Diphtheria toxin IgG levels in military and civilian blood donors in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Serologic data on diseases that are preventable by vaccines are necessary to evaluate the success of immunization programs and to identify susceptible subgroups. In the present study, we determined serum IgG levels against diphtheria toxin of military and civilian blood donors (N = 75; 69.3% males and 30.7% females) aged 18-64 years, from the Brazilian Army Biology Institute, Rio de Janeiro, using a commercial diphtheria kit (Diphtheria IgG ELISA; IBL, Germany). Most (63%) unprotected military donors were from the older age group of 41 to 64 years. In contrast, the majority (71%) of young military donors (18 to 30 years) were fully protected. About half of the military donors aged 31 to 40 years were protected against diphtheria. Among the civilians, about 50% of persons aged 18 to 30 years and 31 to 40 years had protective antibody levels against diphtheria as also did 64% of individuals aged 41 to 64 years. All civilians had a similar antibody response (geometric mean = 0.55 IU/mL) independent of age group. Military donors aged 18-30 years had higher IgG levels (geometric mean = 0.82 IU/mL) than military donors of 41-64 years (geometric mean = 0.51 IU/mL; P > 0.05). In conclusion, the existence of a considerable proportion of susceptible adults supports the position that reliable data on the immune status of the population should be maintained routinely and emphasizes the importance of adequate immunization during adulthood.

Implementation of Response to Intervention (RtI) Model in Spain : An example of a collaboration between Canarian universities and the department of education of the Canary Islands

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Conference of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology, Department of Archaeology, University of Reading

The Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Conference of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology (BABAO) held at the University of Reading in 2007. Contents: 1) A life course perspective of growing up in medieval London: evidence of sub-adult health from St Mary Spital (London) (Rebecca Redfern and Don Walker); 2) Preservation of non-adult long bones from an almshouse cemetery in the United States dating to the late nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries (Colleen Milligan, Jessica Zotcavage and Norman Sullivan); 3) Childhood oral health: dental palaeopathology of Kellis 2, Dakhleh, Egypt. A preliminary investigation (Stephanie Shukrum and JE Molto); 4) Skeletal manifestation of non-adult scurvy from early medieval Northumbria: the Black Gate cemetery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (Diana Mahoney-Swales and Pia Nystrom); 5) Infantile cortical hyperostosis: cases, causes and contradictions (Mary Lewis and Rebecca Gowland); 6) Biological Anthropology Tuberculosis of the hip in the Victorian Britain (Benjamin Clarke and Piers Mitchell); 7) The re-analysis of Iron Age human skeletal material from Winnall Down (Justine Tracey); 8) Can we estimate post-mortem interval from an individual body part? A field study using sus scrofa (Branka Franicevec and Robert Pastor); 9) The expression of asymmetry in hand bones from the medieval cemetery at Écija, Spain (Lisa Cashmore and Sonia Zakrezewski); 10) Returning remains: a curator’s view (Quinton Carroll); 11) Authority and decision making over British human remains: issues and challenges (Piotr Bienkowski and Malcolm Chapman); 12) Ethical dimensions of reburial, retention and repatriation of archaeological human remains: a British perspective (Simon Mays and Martin Smith); 13) The problem of provenace: inaccuracies, changes and misconceptions (Margaret Clegg); 14) Native American human remains in UK collections: implications of NAGPRA to consultation, repatriation, and policy development (Myra J Giesen); 15) Repatriation – a view from the receiving end: New Zealand (Nancy Tayles).

Looking in the wrong place for healthcare improvements: a system dynamics study of an accident and emergency department

Accident and Emergency (A&E) units provide a route for patients requiring urgent admission to acute hospitals. Public concern over long waiting times for admissions motivated this study, whose aim is to explore the factors which contribute to such delays. The paper discusses the formulation and calibration of a system dynamics model of the interaction of demand pattern, A&E resource deployment, other hospital processes and bed numbers; and the outputs of policy analysis runs of the model which vary a number of the key parameters. Two significant findings have policy implications. One is that while some delays to patients are unavoidable, reductions can be achieved by selective augmentation of resources within, and relating to, the A&E unit. The second is that reductions in bed numbers do not increase waiting times for emergency admissions, their effect instead being to increase sharply the number of cancellations of admissions for elective surgery. This suggests that basing A&E policy solely on any single criterion will merely succeed in transferring the effects of a resource deficit to a different patient group.

Students at work in the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Department of the New York Trade School

Students in the Air Conditioning/Refrigeration Dept. of the New York Trade School are shown hard at work in the classroom. Notice the sign at the rear of the room that reads "Watch Out for Pipes on Floor." Black and white photograph.

Three students working on a project in the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Department of the New York Trade School

This shows three students working on a unit in the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Department of the New York Trade School. Black and white photograph.

A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Military and Veterans Affairs (VA) Combat-Related PTSD Programs

A meta-analysis was conducted to examine the effectiveness of 55 treatment outcomes reported by military and Veterans Affairs (VA) treatment centers for combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The analysis includes 46 tested treatment outcomes derived from 21 psychotherapy studies, and nine tested treatment outcomes derived from seven pharmacotherapy studies, which were obtained through PsychINFO and PsychARTICLES database searches, as well as a reference search. Analysis of all treatment outcomes suggested a statistically significant, and meaningful, decrease in PTSD symptoms between baseline and post-treatment time points, t(54) = 9.27, p < .001, d = 0.35. Additionally, analysis of outcomes between psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy treatments resulted in statistically significant differences in PTSD assessment scores at post-test, indicating a greater degree of change for psychotherapy than for pharmacotherapy.

Chicago, Illinois, railroads and industry, 1886 (Image 2 of 2) (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: Railway terminal and industrial map of Chicago : showing the termini, connections, and general system by which interchanges and transfers of freights are effected between all railroads centering in and about Chicago, also indicating the location of freight and passenger depots, elevators, warehouses, coal, ore, and other docks, and the leading manufactories, with an alphabetical list of the principle industries located along the lines of the same, drawn & engraved by A. Zecse & Co. It was published by Industrial World. Co. in 1886. Scale [ca. 1:19,300]. This layer is image 2 of 2 total images of the two sheet source map, representing the southern portion of the map. The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the Illinois East State Plane Coordinate System NAD83 (in Feet) (Fipszone 1201). All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as roads, railroads, drainage, selected buildings and industry locations (e.g. mills, factories, etc.), and more. Includes index of principal industries. This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from The Harvard Map Collection as part of the Imaging the Urban Environment project. Maps selected for this project represent major urban areas and cities of the world, at various time periods. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features at a large scale. The selection represents a range of regions, originators, ground condition dates, scales, and purposes.

Chicago, Illinois, railroads and industry, 1886 (Image 1 of 2) (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: Railway terminal and industrial map of Chicago : showing the termini, connections, and general system by which interchanges and transfers of freights are effected between all railroads centering in and about Chicago, also indicating the location of freight and passenger depots, elevators, warehouses, coal, ore, and other docks, and the leading manufactories, with an alphabetical list of the principle industries located along the lines of the same, drawn & engraved by A. Zecse & Co. It was published by Industrial World. Co. in 1886. Scale [ca. 1:19,300]. This layer is image 1 of 2 total images of the two sheet source map, representing the northern portion of the map. The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the Illinois East State Plane Coordinate System NAD83 (in Feet) (Fipszone 1201). All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as roads, railroads, drainage, selected buildings and industry locations (e.g. mills, factories, etc.), and more. Includes index of principal industries. This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from The Harvard Map Collection as part of the Imaging the Urban Environment project. Maps selected for this project represent major urban areas and cities of the world, at various time periods. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features at a large scale. The selection represents a range of regions, originators, ground condition dates, scales, and purposes.