Capitalizing On Taboos In Advertising: The Cigarette Card Series Of W. Duke, Sons & Co.

This essay reveals the themes displayed in the cigarette card series produced at W. Duke, Sons & Co. from 1880 to 1900. The following mainly draws upon the cards themselves, the Duke family’s and the business’s correspondence, and other miscellaneous company notes. Topics covered include: a historiography, a family history, an overview of the cigarette and tobacco industries, late-eighteenth century capitalism and advertising methods, the interworking of the Duke company, and how the cigarette card series reflect all of these components. The overall argument is that the executives of this enterprise cashed in on the taboos of this time period while offering no new perspectives about the existing social hierarchy in the United States

Nosocomial infections in intensive care

The objectives of this thesis are : 1) To provide a review of the literature on the significance, pathogenesis, diagnosis and management of secondary infections in the Intensive Care Unit. 2) To present the findings of a study of the technique of selective parenteral and enteral antisepsis regimen (SPEAR) in the patient population of the Respiratory ICU at Groote Schuur Hospital, aimed at reducing the incidence of secondary infection and, further to evaluate the study in terms of the effect of SPEAR on the incidence of secondary infection and its influence on the mortality due to secondary infection. 3) To present the findings of the effect of SPEAR on patient bacterial colonisation in the ICU, and to evaluate its longterm influence on the microbial flora of the ICU

Using genomic DNA-based probe-selection to improve the sensitivity of high-density oligonucleotide arrays when applied to heterologous species

High-density oligonucleotide (oligo) arrays are a powerful tool for transcript profiling. Arrays based on GeneChip® technology are amongst the most widely used, although GeneChip® arrays are currently available for only a small number of plant and animal species. Thus, we have developed a method to improve the sensitivity of high-density oligonucleotide arrays when applied to heterologous species and tested the method by analysing the transcriptome of Brassica oleracea L., a species for which no GeneChip® array is available, using a GeneChip® array designed for Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. Genomic DNA from B. oleracea was labelled and hybridised to the ATH1-121501 GeneChip® array. Arabidopsis thaliana probe-pairs that hybridised to the B. oleracea genomic DNA on the basis of the perfect-match (PM) probe signal were then selected for subsequent B. oleracea transcriptome analysis using a .cel file parser script to generate probe mask files. The transcriptional response of B. oleracea to a mineral nutrient (phosphorus; P) stress was quantified using probe mask files generated for a wide range of gDNA hybridisation intensity thresholds. An example probe mask file generated with a gDNA hybridisation intensity threshold of 400 removed > 68 % of the available PM probes from the analysis but retained >96 % of available A. thaliana probe-sets. Ninety-nine of these genes were then identified as significantly regulated under P stress in B. oleracea, including the homologues of P stress responsive genes in A. thaliana. Increasing the gDNA hybridisation intensity thresholds up to 500 for probe-selection increased the sensitivity of the GeneChip® array to detect regulation of gene expression in B. oleracea under P stress by up to 13-fold. Our open-source software to create probe mask files is freely available http://affymetrix.arabidopsis.info/xspecies/ webcite and may be used to facilitate transcriptomic analyses of a wide range of plant and animal species in the absence of custom arrays

Smokers' recall of Australian graphic cigarette packet warnings & awareness of associated health effects, 2005-2008

Extent: 11p.Background: In 2006, Australia introduced graphic cigarette packet warnings. The new warnings include one of 14 pictures, many depicting tobacco-related pathology. The warnings were introduced in two sets; Set A in March and Set B from November. This study explores their impact on smokers’ beliefs about smoking related illnesses. This study also examines the varying impact of different warnings, to see whether warnings with visceral images have greater impact on smokers’ beliefs than other images. Methods: Representative samples of South Australian smokers were interviewed in four independent cross-sectional omnibus surveys; in 2005 (n = 504), 2006 (n = 525), 2007 (n = 414) and 2008 (n = 464). Results: Unprompted recall of new graphic cigarette warnings was high in the months following their introduction, demonstrating that smokers’ had been exposed to them. Smokers also demonstrated an increase in awareness about smoking-related diseases specific to the warning messages. Warnings that conveyed new information and had emotive images demonstrated greater impact on recall and smokers’ beliefs than more familiar information and less emotive images. Conclusions: Overall graphic pack warnings have had the intended impact on smokers. Some have greater impact than others. The implications for policy makers in countries introducing similar warnings are that fresh messaging and visceral images have the greatest impact.Caroline L Miller, Pascale G Quester, David J Hill and Janet E Hille

Genetic epilepsy with febrile seizures plus: definite and borderline phenotypes

Generalised epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) is the most studied familial epilepsy syndrome. However, characteristics of UK families have not previously been reported. Among the first 80 families recruited to our families study, four broad subphenotypes were identified: families with classical GEFS+; families with borderline GEFS+; families with unclassified epilepsy; and families with an alternative syndromal diagnosis. Borderline GEFS+ families shared many characteristics of classical GEFS+ families—such as prominent febrile seizures plus and early onset febrile seizures—but included more adults with focal epilepsies (rather than the idiopathic generalised epilepsies predominating in GEFS+) and double the prevalence of migraine. Thus the authors believe that a novel and robust familial epilepsy phenotype has been identified. Subcategorising families with epilepsy is helpful in targeting both clinical and research resources. Most families with GEFS+ have no identified causal mutation, and so predicting genetic homogeneity by identifying endophenotypes becomes more important

Risk assessment and decision making about in-labour transfer from rural maternity care: a social judgment and signal detection analysis

Background: The importance of respecting women's wishes to give birth close to their local community is supported by policy in many developed countries. However, persistent concerns about the quality and safety of maternity care in rural communities have been expressed. Safe childbirth in rural communities depends on good risk assessment and decision making as to whether and when the transfer of a woman in labour to an obstetric led unit is required. This is a difficult decision. Wide variation in transfer rates between rural maternity units have been reported suggesting different decision making criteria may be involved; furthermore, rural midwives and family doctors report feeling isolated in making these decisions and that staff in urban centres do not understand the difficulties they face. In order to develop more evidence based decision making strategies greater understanding of the way in which maternity care providers currently make decisions is required. This study aimed to examine how midwives working in urban and rural settings and obstetricians make intrapartum transfer decisions, and describe sources of variation in decision making. Methods: The study was conducted in three stages. 1. 20 midwives and four obstetricians described factors influencing transfer decisions. 2. Vignettes depicting an intrapartum scenario were developed based on stage one data. 3. Vignettes were presented to 122 midwives and 12 obstetricians who were asked to assess the level of risk in each case and decide whether to transfer or not. Social judgment analysis was used to identify the factors and factor weights used in assessment. Signal detection analysis was used to identify participants' ability to distinguish high and low risk cases and personal decision thresholds. Results: When reviewing the same case information in vignettes midwives in different settings and obstetricians made very similar risk assessments. Despite this, a wide range of transfer decisions were still made, suggesting that the main source of variation in decision making and transfer rates is not in the assessment but the personal decision thresholds of clinicians. Conclusions: Currently health care practice focuses on supporting or improving decision making through skills training and clinical guidelines. However, these methods alone are unlikely to be effective in improving consistency of decision making

Global Genetic Structure and Molecular Epidemiology of Encapsulated Haemophilus influenzae

A collection of 2,209 isolates of six polysaccharide capsule types of Haemophilus influenzoe, including 1,975 serotype b isolates recovered in 30 countries was characterized for electrophoretically demonstrable allele profiles at 17 metabolic enzyme loci. Two hundred eighty distinct multilocus genotypes were distinguished, and cluster analysis revealed two primary phylogenetic divisions. The population structure of encapsulated H. influenzae is clonal. Currently, most of the invasive disease worldwide is caused by serotype b strains of nine clones, Strains producing serotype c, e, and f capsules belong to single divisions and have no close genetic relationships to strains of other serotypes, Serotype a and b strains occur in both primary phylogenetic divisions, probably as a result of transfer and recombination of serotype-specific sequences of the cap region between clonal lineages. A close genetic relatedness between serotype d isolates and some strains of serotypes a and b was identified, There are strong patterns of geographic variation, on an intercontinental scale, in both the extent of genetic diversity and the clonal composition of populations of encapsulated strains, The analysis suggests that the present distribution of clones is, in part, related to patterns of racial or ethnic differentiation and historical demographic movements of the human host population

High Quality Genomic Copy Number Data from Archival Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Leiomyosarcoma: Optimisation of Universal Linkage System Labelling

Most soft tissue sarcomas are characterized by genetic instability and frequent genomic copy number aberrations that are not subtype-specific. Oligonucleotide microarray-based Comparative Genomic Hybridisation (array CGH) is an important technique used to map genome-wide copy number aberrations, but the traditional requirement for high-quality DNA typically obtained from fresh tissue has limited its use in sarcomas. Although large archives of Formalin-fixed Paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumour samples are available for research, the degradative effects of formalin on DNA from these tissues has made labelling and analysis by array CGH technically challenging. The Universal Linkage System (ULS) may be used for a one-step chemical labelling of such degraded DNA. We have optimised the ULS labelling protocol to perform aCGH on archived FFPE leiomyosarcoma tissues using the 180k Agilent platform. Preservation age of samples ranged from a few months to seventeen years and the DNA showed a wide range of degradation (when visualised on agarose gels). Consistently high DNA labelling efficiency and low microarray probe-to-probe variation (as measured by the derivative log ratio spread) was seen. Comparison of paired fresh and FFPE samples from identical tumours showed good correlation of CNAs detected. Furthermore, the ability to macro-dissect FFPE samples permitted the detection of CNAs that were masked in fresh tissue. Aberrations were visually confirmed using Fluorescence in situ Hybridisation. These results suggest that archival FFPE tissue, with its relative abundance and attendant clinical data may be used for effective mapping for genomic copy number aberrations in such rare tumours as leiomyosarcoma and potentially unravel clues to tumour origins, progression and ultimately, targeted treatment

Correction to: Why public health matters today and tomorrow: the role of applied public health research.

The article "Why public health matters today and tomorrow: the role of applied public health research," written by Lindsay McLaren et al., was originally published Online First without Open Access

Why public health matters today and tomorrow: the role of applied public health research.

Public health is critical to a healthy, fair, and sustainable society. Realizing this vision requires imagining a public health community that can maintain its foundational core while adapting and responding to contemporary imperatives such as entrenched inequities and ecological degradation. In this commentary, we reflect on what tomorrow's public health might look like, from the point of view of our collective experiences as researchers in Canada who are part of an Applied Public Health Chairs program designed to support "innovative population health research that improves health equity for citizens in Canada and around the world." We view applied public health research as sitting at the intersection of core principles for population and public health: namely sustainability, equity, and effectiveness. We further identify three attributes of a robust applied public health research community that we argue are necessary to permit contribution to those principles: researcher autonomy, sustained intersectoral research capacity, and a critical perspective on the research-practice-policy interface. Our intention is to catalyze further discussion and debate about why and how public health matters today and tomorrow, and the role of applied public health research therein