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Selling Science: Polio and the Promise of Gamma Globulin
By Stephen E. Mawdsley. 2016
Today, when many parents seem reluctant to have their children vaccinated, even with long proven medications, the Salk vaccine trial,…
which enrolled millions of healthy children to test an unproven medical intervention, seems nothing short of astonishing. In Selling Science, medical historian Stephen E. Mawdsley recounts the untold story of the first large clinical trial to control polio using healthy children--55,000 healthy children--revealing how this long-forgotten incident cleared the path for Salk's later trial. Mawdsley describes how, in the early 1950s, Dr. William Hammon and the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis launched a pioneering medical experiment on a previously untried scale. Conducted on over 55,000 healthy children in Texas, Utah, Iowa, and Nebraska, this landmark study assessed the safety and effectiveness of a blood component, gamma globulin, to prevent paralytic polio. The value of the proposed experiment was questioned by many prominent health professionals as it harbored potential health risks, but as Mawdsley points out, compromise and coercion moved it forward. And though the trial returned dubious results, it was presented to the public as a triumph and used to justify a federally sanctioned mass immunization study on thousands of families between 1953 and 1954. Indeed, the concept, conduct, and outcome of the GG study were sold to health professionals, medical researchers, and the public at each stage. At a time when most Americans trusted scientists, their mutual encounter under the auspices of conquering disease was shaped by politics, marketing, and at times, deception. Drawing on oral history interviews, medical journals, newspapers, meeting minutes, and private institutional records, Selling Science sheds light on the ethics of scientific conduct, and on the power of marketing to shape public opinion about medical experimentation.Foppish, impulsive, and philandering: William Jackson was every Georgian parent’s worst nightmare. Gentlemen were expected to be honorable and virtuous,…
but William was the opposite, much to the dismay of his father, a well-to-do representative of the East India Company in Madras. In The Profligate Son, historian Nicola Phillips meticulously reconstructs William’s life from a recently discovered family archive, describing how his youthful misbehavior reduced his family to ruin. At first, William seemed destined for a life of great fortune, but before long, he was indulging regularly in pornography and brothels and using his father’s abundant credit to swindle tradesmen. Eventually, William found himself in debtor’s prison and then on a long, typhus-ridden voyage to an Australian penal colony. He spent the rest of his days there, dying a pauper at the age of thirty-seven. A masterpiece of literary nonfiction as dramatic as any Dickens novel, The Profligate Son transports readers from the steamy streets of India, to London’s elegant squares and seedy brothels, to the sunbaked shores of Australia, tracing the arc of a life long buried in history.What if your cell phone could detect cancer cells circulating in your blood or warn you of an imminent heart…
attack? Mobile wireless digital devices, including smartphones and tablets with seemingly limitless functionality, have brought about radical changes in our lives, providing hyper-connectivity to social networks and cloud computing. But the digital world has hardly pierced the medical cocoon. Until now. Beyond reading email and surfing the Web, we will soon be checking our vital signs on our phone. We can already continuously monitor our heart rhythm, blood glucose levels, and brain waves while we sleep. Miniature ultrasound imaging devices are replacing the icon of medicine--the stethoscope. DNA sequencing, Facebook, and the Watson supercomputer have already saved lives. For the first time we can capture all the relevant data from each individual to enable precision therapy, prevent major side effects of medications, and ultimately to prevent many diseases from ever occurring. And yet many of these digital medical innovations lie unused because of the medical community's profound resistance to change. In The Creative Destruction of Medicine, Eric Topol--one of the nation's top physicians and a leading voice on the digital revolution in medicine--argues that radical innovation and a true democratization of medical care are within reach, but only if we consumers demand it. We can force medicine to undergo its biggest shakeup in history. This book shows us the stakes--and how to win them.Trafficked Children and Youth in the United States: Reimagining Survivors
By Elzbieta M. Gozdziak. 2007
Trafficked children are portrayed by the media--and even by child welfare specialists--as hapless victims who are forced to migrate from…
a poor country to the United States, where they serve as sex slaves. But as Elzbieta M. Gozdziak reveals in Trafficked Children in the United States, the picture is far more complex. Basing her observations on research with 140 children, most of them girls, from countries all over the globe, Gozdziak debunks many myths and uncovers the realities of the captivity, rescue, and rehabilitation of trafficked children. She shows, for instance, that none of the girls and boys portrayed in this book were kidnapped or physically forced to accompany their traffickers. In many instances, parents, or smugglers paid by family members, brought the girls to the U.S. Without exception, the girls and boys in this study believed they were coming to the States to find employment and in some cases educational opportunities. Following them from the time they were trafficked to their years as young adults, Gozdziak gives the children a voice so they can offer their own perspective on rebuilding their lives--getting jobs, learning English, developing friendships, and finding love. Gozdziak looks too at how the children's perspectives compare to the ideas of child welfare programs, noting that the children focus on survival techniques while the institutions focus, not helpfully, on vulnerability and pathology. Gozdziak concludes that the services provided by institutions are in effect a one-size-fits-all, trauma-based model, one that ignores the diversity of experience among trafficked children. Breaking new ground, Trafficked Children in the United States offers a fresh take on what matters most to these young people as they rebuild their lives in America.Mark & Trace Analysis (Solving Crimes With Science: Forensics)
By William Hunter. 2014
Crimes happen every day all around the world. Sometimes, criminals think they have taken every possible precaution to avoid capture,…
but they are often mistaken. Every crime leaves a trace, and forensic science has evolved to find the tiniest bits of evidence imaginable at a crime scene. Mark & Trace Analysis gives readers some insights about the tricks and techniques used by forensic scientists and crime-scene investigators when evidence is scarce. Criminals always leave a trail. The trick is finding it.Welcome to the exciting world of forensic science, where every contact leaves a trace! This book shows how real-life detectives…
solve crimes with human signposts: fingerprints, the most well-known human indentifying mark; as well as newer technologies, like bite mark matching; and controversial new evidence, such as ear prints. Prepare yourself for a wild ride through some of the most shocking and mysterious crimes of history, the twentieth century, and today...you may never look at your fingertips the same way again!Sexually Transmitted Infections (Young Adult's Guide to the Science of He)
By Miranda Hunter. 2014
Myth...or truth? 1.Only people who have sex with many partners get sexually transmitted infections (STIs). 2.If I always use a…
condom, I can't catch an STI. 3.Using two condoms is even safer than one. 4.Oral sex is safe without a condom. 5.If I don't have any symptoms, I don't have an STI. Do you know if these statements are true or false? Are you certain? Don't be too embarrassed to find out about STIs. These infections are avoidable--and most are treatable. This book will give you the information you need to make good decisions--and stay safe.Solving Crimes with Physics (Solving Crimes With Science: Forensics #12)
By William Hunter. 2014
Most people cringe when they hear the word physics. Physics is a very technical science that most people rely on…
every day, but do not really care to understand. Things work, and that is enough for most of us. Solving Crimes with Physics delves into the use of this challenging science to give readers a basic understanding of how the principles of physics can be used to solve crimes. From ballistics to bomb blasts, the knowledge of the theories of physics are powerful tools in the hands of a skilled forensic scientist.Entomology & Palynology: Evidence From The Natural World (Solving Crimes With Science: Forensics #12)
By Maryalice Walker. 2014
Who committed the crime? When? Even the smallest of witnesses can tell scientists stories that will make or break a…
criminal case. Insects and pollen grains help forensic scientists bring criminals to justice. A suspect escapes a crime scene, leaving not a trace of evidence behind--except for the hind leg of a grasshopper, which helps convict him of murder. A thief runs through a cornfield, relieved that no one saw him commit the crime--unaware of the tiny grains of pollen stuck to his shirt. Plants and insects hold clues to guilt or innocence. Evidence from nature is all around us, silently and swiftly leaving fingerprints, unnoticed by even the most cunning of criminals.DNA Analysis (Solving Crimes With Science: Forensics #12)
By William Hunter. 2014
A flake of skin...a strand of hair...a fleck of saliva...a drop of blood...everywhere we go we leave behind bits of…
ourselves that are as unique as fingerprints. Each cell contains genetic material called DNA, which holds information that scientists can use to learn about the person who left those cells behind. In the past twenty-five years, researchers have made significant advances in all disciplines of science, including the study of genetics. As science has leapt forward, the effect on forensics has been remarkable. New knowledge of DNA has dramatically changed the amount of information available to forensic scientists at the scene of a crime, opening doors that were never open before.Rx for Survival
By Hilts, Philip J.. 2005
In conjunction with PBS, Philip J. Hilts, longtime New York Times science and health reporter, has travelled the world to…
visit the sites of both the greatest disease peril – where the threat of runaway outbreaks is most severe – and places in which remarkably powerful new approaches are leading to astonishing success in combating the disease menace. Reporting on in-depth research and interviews with the dominant players, Hilts brings to life the crucial choice facing the world community. The leading nations and global organizations now have the means to win the fight against 'the coming plague' if they will only join together and devote the resources to doing so. By telling the moving stories of a host of individuals who have been plagued by the disease threat as well as the inspiring stories of the pioneers who are fighting the good fight Hilts brings the story of this crucial moment in world history to vivid life in a book that will be essential reading for all those concerned about this vital global challenge.If you're like most people, you probably wish you could change at least one part of your body. Perhaps you…
think a makeover, a new you, will make all the difference in the world. Maybe you think that changing your looks will change your life. And if you believe the advertisements you see on television and in magazines, you might think it will be easy to achieve your beauty goals. But when it comes to makeovers, there's more to success than meets the eye. In this book, you'll learn about current trends in the makeover industry and the promises and risks that come with them. You'll also explore why we as a culture are so beauty-obsessed. Finally, you'll learn about the many options available that can help change the way you feel about yourself and others--not simply the way you look!Loose Threads
By Lorie Ann Grover. 2002
Seventh grader Kay Garber's happy home is made up of four generations of women: Great Gran Eula; Grandma Margie; Kay's…
mother, Karine; and Kay. But on the evening Grandma Margie tells her family she has a lump in her breast, Kay's world is changed forever. Struggling with issues of popularity in junior high school, trying to understand her too-perfect mother, dealing with her feelings about friends, and coming to terms with Grandma Margie's cancer diagnosis and illness, Kay is awhirl with questions that have no easy answers. But Kay is a survivor, and as she journeys through these difficult months she comes to a new understanding of the complexities and importance of faith and family. Told through forthright and perceptive poems in Kay's own voice, Loose Threads reverberates with emotion and depth and will leave no reader untouched.Cancer As a Turning Point
By Lawrence Leshan. 1994
Psychotherapist Lawrence LeShan has worked with cancer patients for more than thirty-five years and his research has led people with…
cancer to find new, effective ways to fight for their lives. He has put his findings--full of meaning and purpose--into this revised edition that shows how psychological change, along with medical treatment, mobilizes a compromised immune system for healing. Included is a life-transforming workbook of hands-on exercises designed to help readers evaluate their inner selves and teach them how to get the most out of their immune systems by leading fuller, richer lives.Forensic Science
By Jay Siegel. 2009
In the wake of the phenomenal success of such shows as CSI, forensic science has never been so popular. The…
obsessive attention to detail that Grissom and his crew afford seemingly insignificant details like particles of dirt in a bullet wound have had audiences eager to know more. Siegel's study investigates the many types of evidence, how they occur in crimes, how they are collected and analyzed by scientists, and how the results are presented in court. Jay Siegel is Chair of the department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and Director of the Forensic and Investigative Sciences Program at IUPUI.Nursing with a Message: Public Health Demonstration Projects in New York City
By Patricia D'Antonio. 2017
Mandated by the Affordable Care Act, public health demonstration projects have been touted as an innovative solution to the nation’s…
health care crisis. Yet, such projects actually have a long but little-known history, dating back to the 1920s. This groundbreaking new book reveals the key role that these local health programs—and the nurses who ran them—influenced how Americans perceived both their personal health choices and the well-being of their communities. Nursing with a Message transports readers to New York City in the 1920s and 1930s, charting the rise and fall of two community health centers, in the neighborhoods of East Harlem and Bellevue-Yorkville. Award-winning historian Patricia D’Antonio examines the day-to-day operations of these clinics, as well as the community outreach work done by nurses who visited schools, churches, and homes encouraging neighborhood residents to adopt healthier lifestyles, engage with preventive physical exams, and see to the health of their preschool children. As she reveals, these programs relied upon an often-contentious and fragile alliance between various healthcare providers, educators, social workers, and funding agencies, both public and private. Assessing both the successes and failures of these public health demonstration projects, D’Antonio also traces their legacy in shaping both the best and worst elements of today’s primary care system.Extreme Medicine: How Exploration Transformed Medicine in the Twentieth Century
By Kevin Fong. 2015
Anesthesiologist, intensive care expert, and NASA adviser Kevin Fong explores how physical extremes push human limits and spawn incredible medical…
breakthroughsLittle more than one hundred years ago, maps of the world still boasted white space: places where no human had ever trod. Within a few short decades the most hostile of the world’s environments had all been conquered. Likewise, in the twentieth century, medicine transformed human life. Doctors took what was routinely fatal and made it survivable. As modernity brought us ever more into different kinds of extremis, doctors pushed the bounds of medical advances and human endurance. Extreme exploration challenged the body in ways that only the vanguard of science could answer. Doctors, scientists, and explorers all share a defining trait: they push on in the face of grim odds. Because of their extreme exploration we not only understand our physiology better; we have also made enormous strides in the science of healing.Drawing on his own experience as an anesthesiologist, intensive care expert, and NASA adviser, Dr. Kevin Fong examines how cuttingedge medicine pushes the envelope of human survival by studying the human body’s response when tested by physical extremes. Extreme Medicine explores different limits of endurance and the lens each offers on one of the systems of the body. The challenges of Arctic exploration created opportunities for breakthroughs in open heart surgery; battlefield doctors pioneered techniques for skin grafts, heart surgery, and trauma care; underwater and outer space exploration have revolutionized our understanding of breathing, gravity, and much more. Avant-garde medicine is fundamentally changing our ideas about the nature of life and death.Through astonishing accounts of extraordinary events and pioneering medicine, Fong illustrates the sheer audacity of medical practice at extreme limits, where human life is balanced on a knife’s edge. Extreme Medicine is a gripping debut about the science of healing, but also about exploration in its broadest sense—and about how, by probing the very limits of our biology, we may ultimately return with a better appreciation of how our bodies work, of what life is, and what it means to be human.A Kids' Guide to America's Bill of Rights
By Kathleen Krull, Anna Divito. 1999
Which 462 words are so important that they've changed the course of American history more than once? The Bill of…
Rights: the first ten amendments to the Constitution, the crucial document that spells out how the United States is to be governed.Newly revised and updated, packed with anecdotes, sidebars, case studies, suggestions for further reading, and humorous illustrations, Kathleen Krull's introduction to the Bill of Rights brings an important topic vividly to life for young readers.Find out what the Bill of Rights is and how it affects your daily life in this fascinating look at the history, significance, and mysteries of these laws that protect the individual freedoms of everyone--even young people.Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language ArtsToxic Exposures: Mustard Gas and the Health Consequences of World War II in the United States
By Susan L. Smith. 2017
Mustard gas is typically associated with the horrors of World War I battlefields and trenches, where chemical weapons were responsible…
for tens of thousands of deaths. Few realize, however, that mustard gas had a resurgence during the Second World War, when its uses and effects were widespread and insidious. Toxic Exposures tells the shocking story of how the United States and its allies intentionally subjected thousands of their own servicemen to poison gas as part of their preparation for chemical warfare. In addition, it reveals the racialized dimension of these mustard gas experiments, as scientists tested whether the effects of toxic exposure might vary between Asian, Hispanic, black, and white Americans. Drawing from once-classified American and Canadian government records, military reports, scientists' papers, and veterans' testimony, historian Susan L. Smith explores not only the human cost of this research, but also the environmental degradation caused by ocean dumping of unwanted mustard gas. As she assesses the poisonous legacy of these chemical warfare experiments, Smith also considers their surprising impact on the origins of chemotherapy as cancer treatment and the development of veterans' rights movements. Toxic Exposures thus traces the scars left when the interests of national security and scientific curiosity battled with medical ethics and human rights.Protective Services
By Joyce Libal. 2015
Not every child is lucky enough to live in a safe, loving home. Many young people live in difficult, unhealthy,…
or even dangerous conditions. Luckily, there are systems in place to help kids caught in theses situations. Child protective services are working hard to help children in need. Ryan Delaney is one of these kids. He spends most of his time living in a fantasy world, because that's easier than facing his real life. He lies to his friends about his parents and his home--but eventually, the truth catches up with him, forcing him to get the help he needs. As you read Ryan's story, you will learn about the history of the child protective services and find out about the programs and services offered today.