The Manchester Guardian and the American Civil War

The attitude of important British newspapers such as The Times, Morning Post, and Saturday Review toward the American Civil War has, of course, been the subject of many articles and books. These newspapers served as the mouth-pieces for the aristocratic classes and represented one section of public opinion favoring the South. A little-known group of newspaprs fought for the side of the North. These were the local dailies, which, to a greater or lesser degree, reflected the attitude of their readers--workingmen. Among such newspapers were the Manchester Examiner, Liverpool Daily, Post, Birmingham Daily Post, Newcastle Chronicle, Leeds Mercury, Bradford Advertiser, Preston Guardian, Carlisle Examiner, Dundee Advertiser, Edinburgh Caledonian Mercury, and the Belfast Northern Daily Whig. Whiile the attitude of these newspapers is known. the position of one provincial newspaper of that time--The Manchester Guardian--has been neglected by students of the the period. Was the viewpoint of The Manchester Guardian aristocratic, middle-class, or that of the workingman? It is the object of this thesis to discover The Manchester Guardian\u27s position by examining its coverage of these important issues--neutrality, the Trent Affair, the cotton famine, the condition of the unemployed, the poor-law system, workingmen\u27s meetings, John Bright, President Lincoln, slavery, the Emancipation Proclamation and the worth of democratic institutions

Development of behaviour change communication strategy for a vaccination-linked malaria control tool in southern Tanzania.

BACKGROUND\ud \ud Intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in infants (IPTi) using sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine and linked to the expanded programme on immunization (EPI) is a promising strategy for malaria control in young children. As evidence grows on the efficacy of IPTi as public health strategy, information is needed so that this novel control tool can be put into practice promptly, once a policy recommendation is made to implement it. This paper describes the development of a behaviour change communication strategy to support implementation of IPTi by the routine health services in southern Tanzania, in the context of a five-year research programme evaluating the community effectiveness of IPTi.\ud \ud METHODS\ud \ud Mixed methods including a rapid qualitative assessment and quantitative health facility survey were used to investigate communities' and providers' knowledge and practices relating to malaria, EPI, sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine and existing health posters. Results were applied to develop an appropriate behaviour change communication strategy for IPTi involving personal communication between mothers and health staff, supported by a brand name and two posters.\ud \ud RESULTS\ud \ud Malaria in young children was considered to be a nuisance because it causes sleepless nights. Vaccination services were well accepted and their use was considered the mother's responsibility. Babies were generally taken for vaccination despite complaints about fevers and swellings after the injections. Sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine was widely used for malaria treatment and intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy, despite widespread rumours of adverse reactions based on hearsay and newspaper reports. Almost all health providers said that they or their spouse were ready to take SP in pregnancy (96%, 223/242). A brand name, key messages and images were developed and pre-tested as behaviour change communication materials. The posters contained public health messages, which explained the intervention itself, how and when children receive it and safety issues. Implementation of IPTi started in January 2005 and evaluation is ongoing.\ud \ud CONCLUSION\ud \ud Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) strategies for health interventions must be both culturally appropriate and technically sound. A mixed methods approach can facilitate an interactive process among relevant actors to develop a BCC strategy

Biosynthesis of the proteasome inhibitor syringolin A: the ureido group joining two amino acids originates from bicarbonate

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Syringolin A, an important virulence factor in the interaction of the phytopathogenic bacterium <it>Pseudomonas syringae </it>pv. <it>syringae </it>B728a with its host plant <it>Phaseolus vulgaris </it>(bean), was recently shown to irreversibly inhibit eukaryotic proteasomes by a novel mechanism. Syringolin A is synthesized by a mixed non-ribosomal peptide synthetase/polyketide synthetase and consists of a tripeptide part including a twelve-membered ring with an N-terminal valine that is joined to a second valine via a very unusual ureido group. Analysis of sequence and architecture of the syringolin A synthetase gene cluster with the five open reading frames <it>sylA-sylE </it>allowed to formulate a biosynthesis model that explained all structural features of the tripeptide part of syringolin A but left the biosynthesis of the unusual ureido group unaccounted for.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have cloned a 22 kb genomic fragment containing the <it>sylA-sylE </it>gene cluster but no other complete gene into the broad host range cosmid pLAFR3. Transfer of the recombinant cosmid into <it>Pseudomonas putida </it>and <it>P. syringae </it>pv. <it>syringae </it>SM was sufficient to direct the biosynthesis of <it>bona fide </it>syringolin A in these heterologous organisms whose genomes do not contain homologous genes. NMR analysis of syringolin A isolated from cultures grown in the presence of NaH¹³CO₃revealed preferential ¹³C-labeling at the ureido carbonyl position.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results show that no additional syringolin A-specific genes were needed for the biosynthesis of the enigmatic ureido group joining two amino acids. They reveal the source of the ureido carbonyl group to be bicarbonate/carbon dioxide, which we hypothesize is incorporated by carbamylation of valine mediated by the <it>sylC </it>gene product(s). A similar mechanism may also play a role in the biosynthesis of other ureido-group-containing NRPS products known largely from cyanobacteria.</p

On-Board Real-Time Trajectory Planning for Fixed Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Extreme Environments

A team from the University of Bristol have developed a method of operating fixed wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) at long-range and high-altitude over Volc&aacute;n de Fuego in Guatemala for the purposes of volcanic monitoring and ash-sampling. Conventionally, the mission plans must be carefully designed prior to flight, to cope with altitude gains in excess of 3000 m, reaching 9 km from the ground control station and 4500 m above mean sea level. This means the climb route cannot be modified mid-flight. At these scales, atmospheric conditions change over the course of a flight and so a real-time trajectory planner (RTTP) is desirable, calculating a route on-board the aircraft. This paper presents an RTTP based around a genetic algorithm optimisation running on a Raspberry Pi 3 B+, the first of its kind to be flown on-board a UAV. Four flights are presented, each having calculated a new and valid trajectory on-board, from the ground control station to the summit region of Volcań de Fuego. The RTTP flights are shown to have approximately equivalent efficiency characteristics to conventionally planned missions. This technology is promising for the future of long-range UAV operations and further development is likely to see significant energy and efficiency savings

The acceptability of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in infants (IPTi) delivered through the expanded programme of immunization in southern Tanzania

BACKGROUND\ud \ud Intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in infants (IPTi) reduces the incidence of clinical malaria. However, before making decisions about implementation, it is essential to ensure that IPTi is acceptable, that it does not adversely affect attitudes to immunization or existing health seeking behaviour. This paper reports on the reception of IPTi during the first implementation study of IPTi in southern Tanzania.\ud \ud METHODS\ud \ud Data were collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation carried out by a central team of social scientists and a network of key informants/interviewers who resided permanently in the study sites.\ud \ud RESULTS\ud \ud IPTi was generally acceptable. This was related to routinization of immunization and resonance with traditional practices. Promoting "health" was considered more important than preventing specific diseases. Many women thought that immunization was obligatory and that health staff might be unwilling to assist in the future if they were non-adherent. Weighing and socialising were important reasons for clinic attendance. Non-adherence was due largely to practical, social and structural factors, many of which could be overcome. Reasons for non-adherence were sometimes interlinked. Health staff and "road to child health" cards were the main source of information on the intervention, rather than the specially designed posters. Women did not generally discuss child health matters outside the clinic, and information about the intervention percolated slowly through the community. Although there were some rumours about sulphadoxine pyrimethamine (SP), it was generally acceptable as a drug for IPTi, although mothers did not like the way tablets were administered. There is no evidence that IPTi had a negative effect on attitudes or adherence to the expanded programme on immunisation (EPI) or treatment seeking or existing malaria prevention.\ud \ud CONCLUSION\ud \ud In order to improve adherence to both EPI and IPTi local priorities should be taken into account. For example, local women are often more interested in weighing than in immunization, and they view vaccination and IPTi as vaguely "healthy" rather preventing specific diseases. There should be more emphasis on these factors and more critical consideration by policy makers of how much local knowledge and understanding is minimally necessary in order to make interventions successful

The Impact of IPTi and IPTc Interventions on Malaria Clinical Burden – In Silico Perspectives

Background: Clinical management of malaria is a major health issue in sub-Saharan Africa. New strategies based on intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) can tackle disease burden by simultaneously reducing frequency of infections and life-threatening illness in infants (IPTi) and children (IPTc), while allowing for immunity to build up. However, concerns as to whether immunity develops efficiently in treated individuals, and whether there is a rebound effect after treatment is halted, have made it imperative to define the effects that IPTi and IPTc exert on the clinical malaria scenario. Methods and Findings: Here, we simulate several schemes of intervention under different transmission settings, while varying immunity build up assumptions. Our model predicts that infection risk and effectiveness of acquisition of clinical immunity under prophylactic effect are associated to intervention impact during treatment and follow-up periods. These effects vary across regions of different endemicity and are highly correlated with the interplay between the timing of interventions in age and the age dependent risk of acquiring an infection. However, even when significant rebound effects are predicted to occur, the overall intervention impact is positive. Conclusions: IPTi is predicted to have minimal impact on the acquisition of clinical immunity, since it does not interfere with the occurrence of mild infections, thus failing to reduce the underlying force of infection. On the contrary, IPTc has

Gametocytaemia after Drug Treatment of Asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum

OBJECTIVES: Treatment of Plasmodium falciparum malaria with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is followed by a sharp rise in the prevalence and density of gametocytes. We did a randomized trial to determine the effect of treatment of asymptomatic infections with SP or SP plus one dose of artesunate (SP+AS) on gametocyte carriage. DESIGN: The study was a three-arm open-label randomized trial. We randomized asymptomatic carriers of P. falciparum to receive antimalarial treatment or placebo, and recorded the prevalence and density of gametocytes over the next 2 mo. SETTING: The trial was conducted during the dry (low malaria transmission) season in four rural villages in Gambia. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were adults and children aged over 6 mo with asexual P. falciparum infection and confirmed free of clinical symptoms of malaria over a 2-d screening period. INTERVENTIONS: Participants were randomized to receive a single dose of SP or SP+AS or placebo. OUTCOME MEASURES: The outcome measures were the presence of gametocytes 7 and 56 d after treatment, and the duration and density of gametocytaemia over 2 mo. RESULTS: In total, 372 asymptomatic carriers were randomized. Gametocyte prevalence on day 7 was 10.5% in the placebo group, 11.2% in the SP group (risk difference to placebo 0.7%, 95% confidence interval −7.4% to 8.7%, p = 0.87), and 7.1% in the SP+AS group (risk difference to placebo 4.1%, 95% confidence interval −3.3% to 12%, p = 0.28). By day 56, gametocyte prevalence was 13% in the placebo group and 2% in both drug-treated groups. Gametocyte carriage (the area under the curve of gametocyte density versus time), was reduced by 71% in the SP group, and by 74% in the SP+AS group, compared to placebo. Gametocyte carriage varied with age and was greater among children under 15 than among adults. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of asymptomatic carriers of P. falciparum with SP does not increase gametocyte carriage or density. Effective treatment of asexual parasitaemia in the dry season reduces gametocyte carriage to very low levels after 4 wk

Urticaria and angioedema

Urticaria (hives) is a common disorder that often presents with angioedema (swelling that occurs beneath the skin). It is generally classified as acute, chronic or physical. Second-generation, non-sedating H1-receptor antihistamines represent the mainstay of therapy for both acute and chronic urticaria. Angioedema can occur in the absence of urticaria, with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor-induced angioedema and idiopathic angioedema being the more common causes. Rarer causes are hereditary angioedema (HAE) or acquired angioedema (AAE). Although the angioedema associated with these disorders is often self-limited, laryngeal involvement can lead to fatal asphyxiation in some cases. The management of HAE and AAE involves both prophylactic strategies to prevent attacks of angioedema (i.e., trigger avoidance, attenuated androgens, tranexamic acid, and plasma-derived C1 inhibitor replacement therapy) as well as pharmacological interventions for the treatment of acute attacks (i.e., C1 inhibitor replacement therapy, ecallantide and icatibant). In this article, the authors review the causes, diagnosis and management of urticaria (with or without angioedema) as well as the work-up and management of isolated angioedema, which vary considerably from that of angioedema that occurs in the presence of urticaria