Women typeface designers

Nowhere is there a single, exclusive publication containing biographies, type specimens, and photographs of the many women typeface designers. From source to source, one will usually find the same names of male typeface designers repeated. However, one must refer to many sources to compile a list of women typeface designers. In an age of rapid access to all sorts of reference information, it seems silly that one must be forced to search many sources and possibly never find all they are looking for. This thesis project provides a single reference source of women typeface designers and samples of their typefaces as of December, 1996. This thesis project involved the compilation of biographical information of women typeface designers who, by definition, have created individual letters, numerals, punctuation marks, and/or other symbols produced by machine which are arranged by hand, photomechanically, or electronically. In addition, samples of the typefaces were also compiled. Upon completion of this thesis project, the degree candidate will pursue having the research published in a book. An initial search for names, typefaces, addresses and phone numbers of these designers began with phone calls to people in the field, including the designers themselves. Questionnaires asking biographical, professional and observational questions were mailed to twenty-four of the forty-one designers from January, 1995 to May, 1996. Eight questionnaires were completed and returned. Information on the remaining designers was found in previously published sources. Typeface samples were gathered through the designers, typeface distributors, or published books on type. Biographical questions asked name, date of birth, country of origin and education. Professional questions asked for information regarding typefaces designed, career moves, colleagues and awards. The observational questions asked the designer to describe the conditions in the work place acquiring a job, the sense of equality. The span of ages provided for a variety of workplace experience; the younger designers had not felt much discrimination, while the older designers had experienced feelings of inequality with their male colleagues at one time or another. Research on the remaining 32 designers was performed using many books and the Internet.The majority of the women typeface designers in this thesis project hail from the United States, with the rest from Europe. Most attended college in design-related majors. Those in the industry longer are the award-winners of the group. The result of this research is intended to take the form of a book manuscript. Appendices A through F are the Preface, Biographies, Typeface Samples, Index, Typeface Index and Works Cited. Appendix H illustrates an envisioned layout of the book

Mitigating social and economic sources of trauma:the need for Universal Basic Income during the Coronavirus Pandemic

The COVID-19 Pandemic is projected to cause an economic shock larger than the Global Financial Crisis of 2007/2008 and a recession as great as anything seen since the Great Depression in 1930s. The social and economic consequences of lockdowns and social distancing measures, such as unemployment, broken relationships and homelessness create potential for inter-generational trauma extending decades into the future. In this article, we argue that, in the absence of a vaccine, governments need to introduce Universal Basic Income as a means of mitigating this trauma

Functional genomics to identify the factors contributing to successful persistence and global spread of an antibiotic resistance plasmid

Background: The spread of bacterial plasmids is an increasing global problem contributing to the widespread dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes including β-lactamases. Our understanding of the details of the biological mechanisms by which these natural plasmids are able to persist in bacterial populations and are able to establish themselves in new hosts via conjugative transfer is very poor. We recently identified and sequenced a globally successful plasmid, pCT, conferring β-lactam resistance. Results: Here, we investigated six plasmid encoded factors (tra and pil loci; rci shufflon recombinase, a putative sigma factor, a putative parB partitioning gene and a pndACB toxin-antitoxin system) hypothesised to contribute to the 'evolutionary success' of plasmid pCT. Using a functional genomics approach, the role of these loci was investigated by systematically inactivating each region and examining the impact on plasmid persistence, conjugation and bacterial host biology. While the tra locus was found to be essential for all pCT conjugative transfer, the second conjugation (pil) locus was found to increase conjugation frequencies in liquid media to particular bacterial host recipients (determined in part by the rci shufflon recombinase). Inactivation of the pCT pndACB system and parB did not reduce the stability of this plasmid. Conclusions: Our findings suggest the success of pCT may be due to a combination of factors including plasmid stability within a range of bacterial hosts, a lack of a fitness burden and efficient transfer rates to new bacterial hosts rather than the presence of a particular gene or phenotype transferred to the host. The methodology used in our study could be applied to other 'successful' globally distributed plasmids to discover the role of currently unknown plasmid backbone genes or to investigate other factors which allow these elements to persist and spread

Measuring the health impact of Universal Basic Income as an upstream intervention:Holistic trial design that captures stress reduction is essential

Background: In the context of the UK Government’s ‘prevention agenda’, Laura Webber and colleagues have called for a ‘health in all policies’ approach. Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a system of cash transfers to citizens. Recent research suggests it could significantly benefit population health, including via reducing stress. However, a Finnish trial of a policy with similarities to UBI has influenced debate. This was reported as a failure due to a policy objective of reducing unemployment, despite demonstrating significant benefits to well-being. Aims and objectives: In this piece, we seek to advance the debate about the cost-benefit of UBI by identifying knowledge gaps and proposing a means of designing effective trials. Methods: We review UBI trial design and findings in comparison with social gradient in health literature and biopsychosocial theory to identify knowledge gaps. Findings: We highlight a need to refocus UBI trials on improved health, including via reduced stress, to provide policy makers the means of producing accurate cost-benefit analysis. Previous trials have either not reflected likely UBI policy or failed to measure impacts that enable accurate analysis. We contend that interdisciplinary work is required to establish trials that observe factors known to drive the social health gradient. Finally, we argue that statistical modelling is needed to extrapolate shorter-term findings to long-term population-level outcomes. Discussion and conclusions: Resource allocation by Government and/or major funders is required to produce evidence that enables accurate analysis of UBI. Such trials would provide a platform for interdisciplinary work resulting in joined-up evidence and policy. Key messages Existing Universal Basic Income trial designs have not enabled accurate assessment of the policy Interdisciplinarity is needed in trials to observe key factors driving the social health gradient Statistical modelling is essential to produce population-level evidence for policy development Financial resource must be directed to establishing more thorough and evidence-based trial

Use of tobacco retail permitting to reduce youth access and exposure to tobacco in Santa Clara County, California

AbstractObjectiveTo target youth smoking, the impact of a local tobacco retail permit was evaluated on the number and location of tobacco retailers, and on the level of enforcement and compliance with tobacco sales regulations from 2010 to 2012 within unincorporated Santa Clara County, California.MethodsGeographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping of each of 36 tobacco retailers pre- and post-intervention, observational surveys of tobacco retail environments pre- and post-intervention, and post-intervention enforcement surveys to measure location of sales, level of enforcement action, and compliance with laws governing sale of tobacco products were conducted.ResultsEleven (30.6%) of the initial 36 retailers selling tobacco at the start of the intervention stopped selling tobacco post intervention. Of these 11 retailers, one was within 500feet of another retailer, and three were within 1000feet of a K–12 school. Ten (91%) of the retailers who stopped selling tobacco were non-traditional retailers.ConclusionAn immediate reduction in the number of stores selling tobacco occurred following implementation of tobacco retail permitting. Post-implementation, all retailers who underwent compliance checks were in compliance with laws prohibiting sales of tobacco to minors. Compliance with laws governing the sale of tobacco has potential to reduce access and use of tobacco products by youth

An Accredited Local Health Department’s Use of the QI Roadmap to Build a Culture of Quality

Studies that exist on quality improvement efforts within local health departments indicate that there needs to be clearer approaches for achieving a culture of quality. This study describes how a local health department used the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO’s) Roadmap to an Organizational Culture of Quality Improvement (QI Roadmap) to successfully build a quality culture on its journey to becoming accredited, as reflected in results from a February 2016 survey. Local health departments who invest in and promote QI efforts that are aligned with strategic priorities; establish the necessary infrastructure to regularly track and report performance data, including customer service data; expand the use of different types of teams; offer opportunities to identify areas of improvement and trainings; and promote resources for using various improvement models can establish a solid foundation in QI leading to accreditation

Human‐specific transcriptome of ventral and dorsal midbrain dopamine neurons

Objective Neuronal loss in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) in Parkinson's disease (PD) is not uniform as dopamine neurons from the ventral tier are lost more rapidly than those of the dorsal tier. Identifying the intrinsic differences that account for this differential vulnerability may provide a key for developing new treatments for PD. Method Here we compared the RNA‐sequenced transcriptomes of ~100 laser captured micro‐dissected SNpc neurons from each tier from seven healthy controls. Results Expression levels of dopaminergic markers were similar across the tiers while markers specific to the neighbouring ventral tegmental area were virtually undetected. After accounting for unwanted sources of variation, we identified one hundred and six differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the SNpc tiers. The genes higher in the dorsal/resistant SNpc tier neurons displayed coordinated patterns of expression across the human brain, their protein products had more interactions than expected by chance and they demonstrated evidence of functional convergence. No significant shared functionality was found for genes higher in the ventral/vulnerable SNpc tier. Surprisingly but importantly, none of the identified DEGs were among the familial PD genes or genome‐wide associated loci. Finally, we found some DEGs in opposite tier orientation between human and analogous mouse populations. Interpretation Our results highlight functional enrichments of vesicular trafficking, ion transport/homeostasis and oxidative stress genes showing higher expression in the resistant neurons of the SNpc dorsal tier. Furthermore, the comparison of gene expression variation in human and mouse SNpc populations strongly argues for the need of human‐focused Omics studies

The Brighton declaration: the value of non-communicable disease modelling in population health sciences.

The Brighton declaration arose out of a one day workshop held in Brighton in September 2013 as part of the Society for Social Medicine annual conference. The workshop convened UK based non-communicable disease modellers to discuss the challenges and opportunities for non-communicable disease modelling in the UK. The declaration describes the value and importance of non-communicable disease modelling, both for research and for informing health policy. The declaration also describes challenges and issues for non-communicable disease modelling. The declaration has been endorsed by many non-communicable disease modellers in the UK.The following academics collaborated with the authors to finalise this article are and acknowledged as co-signatories on its content. The authors are extremely grateful for their input. University of Cambridge: Ali Abbas, Marko Tanio; University of Edinburgh: Dr Susannah McLean; UK Health Forum: Martin Brown, Tim Marsh, Marco Mesa-Frias, Lise Retat; Imperial College London: Anthony Laverty; The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine: Zaid Chalabi; University College London: Luz Sanchez Romero; University of Oxford: Anja Mizdrak, Mike Rayner, Marco Springmann; University of Sheffield: Alan Brennan, James Chilcott, John Holmes, Petra Meier, John Mooney; University of Southampton: Grant Aitken. ADMB and OTM are funded by the Wellcome Trust. PS is funded by the British Heart Foundation. JW is funded by an MRC Population Health Scientist Fellowship.This is the final published version. The article was originally published in the European Journal of Epidemiology (2014) 29, 867–870, DOI 10.1007/s10654-014-9978-0