ESKAPE

ESKAPE is an acronym comprising the scientific names of six highly virulent and antibiotic resistant bacterial pathogens including: "Enterococcus faecium", "Staphylococcus aureus", "Klebsiella pneumoniae", "Acinetobacter baumannii", "Pseudomonas aeruginosa", and "Enterobacter spp." This group of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria can evade or 'escape' commonly used antibiotics due to their increasing multi-drug resistance (MDR). As a result, throughout the world, they are the major cause of life-threatening nosocomial or hospital-acquired infections in immunocompromised and critically ill patients who are most at risk. P. aeruginosa and S. aureus are some of the most ubiquitous pathogens in biofilms found in healthcare. P. aeruginosa is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium, commonly found in the gut flora, soil, and water that can be spread directly or indirectly to patients in healthcare settings. The pathogen can also be spread in other locations through contamination, including surfaces, equipment, and hands. The opportunistic pathogen can cause hospitalized patients to have infections in the lungs (as pneumonia), blood, urinary tract, and in other body regions after surgery. S. aureus is a Gram-positive, cocci-shaped bacterium, residing in the environment and on the skin and nose of many healthy individuals. The bacterium can cause skin and bone infections, pneumonia, and other types of potentially serious infections if it enters the body. S. aureus has also gained resistance to many antibiotic treatments, making healing difficult. Because of natural and unnatural selective pressures and factors, antibiotic resistance in bacteria usually emerges through genetic mutation or acquires antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) through horizontal gene transfer - a genetic exchange process by which antibiotic resistance can spread.
One of the main reasons for the rise in the selection for antibiotic resistance (ABR) and MDR which led to the emergence of the ESKAPE bacteria is from the rash overuse of antibiotics not only in healthcare, but also in the animal, and agricultural sector. Other key factors include misuse and inadequate adherence to treatment guidelines. Due to these factors, fewer and fewer antibiotic treatments are effective in eradicating ABR and MDR bacterial infections, while at the same time there are now no new antibiotics being created due to lack of funding. These ESKAPE pathogens, along with other antibiotic-resistant bacteria, are an interweaved global health threat and are being addressed from a more holistic and One Health perspective.
Prevalence.
From a global perspective, the emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria is responsible for about 15.5% of hospital acquired infection cases and there are currently about 0.7 million deaths from drug-resistant disease. Specifically, the opportunistic nosocomial ESKAPE pathogens correspond with the highest risk of mortality which has the majority of its isolates being MDR. Two pathogens within the ESKAPE group, Carbapenem-resistant "Acinetobacter"and Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae are currently in the top five of the antibiotic resistant bacteria on the CDC’s 2019 urgent threat list, and the other 4 pathogens making up the group are on the serious threat list. In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) created a global priority pathogen list (PPL) of ABR bacteria with the goal to prioritize research and create new effective antibiotic treatments. The global PPL classifies pathogens into 3 categories, critical, high, and medium, and has 4 of the pathogens from the ESKAPE group in the critical priority list and the other 2 pathogens that make up the group in the high priority list.
Characteristics.
ESKAPE pathogens are differentiated from other pathogens due to their increased resistance to commonly used antibiotics such as penicillin, vancomycin, carbapenems, and more. This increased resistance, combined with the clinical significance of these bacteria in the medical field, results in a necessity to understand their mechanisms of resistance and combat them with novel antibiotics. Common mechanisms for resistance include the production of enzymes that attack the structure of antibiotics (for example, β-lactamases inactivating β-lactam antibiotics), modification of the target site that the antibiotic targets so that it can no longer bind properly, efflux pumps, and biofilm production. Efflux pumps are a feature of the membrane of Gram-negative bacteria that allows them to constantly pump out foreign material, including antibiotics, so that the inside of the cell never contains a high enough concentration of the drug to have an effect. Biofilms are a mixture of diverse microbial communities and polymers that protect the bacteria from antibiotic treatment by acting as a physical barrier.
Clinical threats.
Due to their heightened resistance to frequently used antibiotics, these pathogens pose an additional threat to the safety of the general population, particularly those who frequently interact with hospital environments, as they most commonly contribute to hospital-acquired infections (HAI). The increased antimicrobial resistance profile of these pathogens varies, however they arise from similar causes. One common cause of antibiotic resistance is due to incorrect dosing. When a sub-therapeutic dose is prescribed, or a patient chooses to use less of their prescribed antibiotic, bacteria are given the opportunity to adapt to the treatment. At lower doses, or when a course of antibiotics is not completed, certain strains of the bacteria develop drug-resistant strains through the process of natural selection. This is due to the random genetic mutations that are constantly occurring in many forms of living organisms, bacteria and humans included. Natural selection supports the persistence of strains of bacteria that have developed a certain mutation that allows them to survive. Some strains are also able to participate in inter-strain horizontal gene transfer, allowing them to pass resistance genes from one pathogen to another. This can be particularly problematic in nosocomial infections, where bacteria are constantly exposed to antibiotics and those benefiting from resistance as a result of random genetic mutations can share this resistance with bacteria in the area that have not yet developed this resistance on their own.
Bacterial profiles.
"Enterococcus faecium".
"Enterococcus faecium" is a Gram-positive sphereically-shaped (coccus) bacteria that tends to occur in pairs or chains, most commonly involved in HAI in immunocompromised patients. It often exhibits a resistance to β-lactam antibiotics including penicillin and other last resort antibiotics. There has also been a rise in vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) strains, including an increase in "E. faecium" resistance to vancomycin, particularly vancomycin-A. These vancomycin-resistant strains display a profound ability to develop and share their resistance through horizontal gene transfer, as well as code for virulence factors that control phenotypes. These virulence phenotypes range from thicker biofilms to allowing them to grow in a variety of environments including medical devices such as urinary catheters and prosthetic heart valves within the body. The thicker biofilms act as a “mechanical and biochemical shield” that protects the bacteria from the antibiotics and are the most effective protective mechanism that bacteria have against treatment.
"Staphylococcus aureus".
"Staphylococcus aureus" is a Gram-positive round-shaped (coccus) bacteria that is commonly found as a part of the human skin microbiota and is typically not harmful in humans with non-compromise immune systems in these environments. However, "S. aureus" has the ability to cause infections when it enters parts of the body that it does not typically inhabit, such as wounds. Similar to "E. faecium", "S. aureus" can also cause infections on implanted medical devices and form biofilms that make treatment with antibiotics more difficult. Additionally, approximately 25% of "S. aureus" strains secrete the TSST-1 exotoxin responsible for causing toxic shock syndrome. Methicillin-resistant "S. aureus", or MRSA, includes strains distinct from other strains of "S. aureus" in the fact that they have developed resistance to β-lactam antibiotics. Some also express an exotoxin that has been known to cause “necrotic hemorrhagic pneumonia” in those who suffer from infection. Vancomycin and similar antibiotics are typically the first choices for treatment of MRSA infections, however from this vancomycin-resistant "S. aureus", or VRSA (VISA for those with intermediate resistance) strains have emerged.
"Klebsiella pneumoniae".
"Klebsiella pneumoniae" is a Gram-negative rod-shaped (bacillus) bacteria that is particularly adept to accepting resistance genes in horizontal gene transfer. It is commonly also resistant to phagocyte treatment due to its thick biofilm with strong adhesion to neighboring cells. Certain strains have also developed β-lactamases that allow them to be resistant many of the commonly used antibiotics, including carbapenems, which has led to the creation of carbapenem-resistant "K. pneumoniae" (CRKP), for which there are very few antibiotics in development that can treat infection.
"Acinetobacter baumannii".
"Acinetobacter baumannii" is most common in hospitals, which has allowed for the development of resistance to all known antimicrobials. The Gram-negative short-rod-shaped (coccobacillus) "A. baumannii" thrives in a number of unaccommodating environments due to its tolerance to a variety of temperatures, pHs, nutrient levels, as well as dry environments. The Gram-negative aspects of the membrane surface of "A. baumannii," including the efflux pump and outer membrane, affords it a wider range of antibiotic resistance. Additionally, some problematic "A. baumannii" strains are able to acquire families of efflux pumps from other species, and commonly first to develop new β-lactamases to improve β-lactam resistance.
"Pseudomonas aeruginosa".
The Gram-negative, rod-shaped (bacillus) bacteria "Pseudomonas aeurginosa" is ubiquitous hydrocarbon degrader that is able to survive in extreme environments as well as in soil and many more common environments. Because of this versatility, it survives quite well in the lungs of patients suffering from late-stage cystic fibrosis (CF). It also benefits from the same previously mentioned Gram-negative resistance factors as "A. baumannii." Mutants of "P. aeurginosa" with upregulated efflux pumps also exist that make finding an effective antibiotic or detergent incredibly difficult. There are also some multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains of "P. aeruginosa" that express β-lactamases as well as upregulated efflux pumps which can make treatment particularly difficult.
"Enterobacter".
"Enterobacter" encompasses a family of Gram-negative, rod-shaped (bacillus) species of bacteria. Some strains cause urinary tract (UTI) and blood infections and are resistant to multiple drug therapies, which therefore puts the human population in critical need for the development of novel and effective antibiotic treatments. Colistin and tigecycline are two of the only antibiotics currently used for treatment, and there are seemingly no other viable antibiotics in development. In some "Enterobacter" species, a 5- 300 fold increase in minimum inhibitory concentration was observed when exposed to several gradually increasing concentrations of benzalkonium chloride (BAC). Other Gram-negative bacterias (including "Enterobacter", but also "Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, Klebsiella" species, and more) also displayed a similar ability to adapt to the disinfectant BAC.
One Health Problem.
The ESKAPE pathogens and ABR bacteria in general are an interconnected global health threat and a clear 'One Health' problem, meaning they can spread between and impact the environment, animal, and human sectors. As one of the largest global health challenges, combatting the highly resistant and opportunistic ESKAPE pathogens necessitates a One Health approach. One Health is a transdisciplinary approach that involves addressing health outcomes from a multifaceted and interdisciplinary perspective for humans, animals, and the environmental on a local, national, and global level. Using this framework and mindset is crucial to combat and prevent the spread and development of the ESKAPE pathogens (including the ABR in general) while addressing its importantly related socioeconomic factors, such as inadequate sanitation.


Dead Wrong (song)

"Dead Wrong" is a song by the Notorious B.I.G., taken from his third overall album, "Born Again". The song features background vocals from Diddy and rap vocals from Eminem, and it was released as a single posthumously in 1999. The song samples the drum break from Al Green's song, "I'm Glad You're Mine".
Critical reception.
It was received positively by music critics. "Rolling Stone" wrote a positive overview: "The only real find here is the awesome "Dead Wrong," which shows B.I.G. in his prime." "A.V. Club" wrote that Eminem is a highlight.
Music video.
The video was set out in a similar manner to 2Pac's hit "Changes", which was released in 1998, in the fact that it features clips of Biggie performing live, in interviews, clips of his music videos and showing pictures of him. Eminem appears in the video in a separate clip, rapping his lyrics in the style of a freestyle video submission.
In other media.
This song was mashed up with Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" from the 2006/2007 mixtape "Rock Phenomenon", which features the alternate second verse coming from the Notorious B.I.G. in legacy. The line "relax and take notes" is also put in a mix for the mixtape introduction, provided and contributed by DJ Vlad & Roc Raida with Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda as the host for the album.


Sitka Pioneer Home

The Sitka Pioneer Home is an assisted living home, located in the U.S. state of Alaska at 120 Katlian Street in downtown Sitka. Operated by the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services under its Division of Pioneer Homes, it is the oldest and third-largest of the six homes in the Pioneer Home system. The building was designed by the Tacoma firm of Heath, Gove & Bell.
Currently, the Sitka Pioneer Home is the third largest Alaska Pioneer Home and can care for 75 residents including those suffering from Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia. The home uses a three-tiered system of care: tier I or "Independent", tier II or "Basic Assistance", and tier III or "24-Hour Care".
The property, including the Totem Park located across Katlian Street, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
History.
A contingent of U.S. Marine Corps had been stationed from 1879 to 1892 in a group of barracks built by Russia in the 1800s, located at the actual site of Sitka Pioneer Home. When the troops were withdrawn and the base closed in 1912, the site, which had expanded with the addition of several buildings, remained unused.
When the Territory of Alaska was established in August 1912, Sitka representatives asked to the Navy Department the permission to create the Sitka Pioneer Home in the area.
The Sitka Pioneer Home was opened in September 1913 on a $10,000 budget. The home struggled financially until the 1930s, when the federal and territorial governments appropriated around $400,000 to replace the dilapidated and fire-prone buildings, creating a new home capable of caring for 170 men. In 1949, upon mandate from the territorial legislature, an expansion was constructed, with women permitted to be taken under care.
The Pioneer Home has also played a large part in Sitka's Alaska Day festivities. The parade through downtown ends close to the grounds and hundreds of people mingle at a free reception inside the home with live entertainment traditionally provided by the New Archangel Dancers. The annual Alaska Day croquet tournament takes place on the grounds at the same time.
"Prospector" statue.
A statue entitled "The Prospector," sculpted by Alonzo Victor Lewis, serves as the centerpiece of the grounds of the Sitka Pioneer Home. The sculpture was supposed to be modeled after real-life pioneer William Clark "Skagway Bill" Fonda, a resident of Skagway and originally of Fonda, New York. This statue is the larger of two models that Lewis created. The smaller of the pair sits in Seattle's Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park in Pioneer Square. After more than three tons of clay and 21 years of fundraising, the sculpture was finally shipped to Sitka in time for its dedication at 1949's Alaska Day.


Sclerosing sweat duct carcinoma


Samuel Gelfan

Samuel Gelfan (16 January 1903, Ukraine – 16 March 1975, Ossining, New York) was an American professor of neurophysiology. He was a Guggenheim Fellow for the academic year 1932–1933.
Education and career.
Gelfan graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) with A.B. in 1925 and Ph.D. in 1927. There he was a teaching fellow in biology from 1925 to 1927. He was from 1928 to 1930 a Donnelly Research Fellow at the University of Chicago and from 1930 to 1932 an assistant professor of physiology and pharmacology at the University of Alberta. For the academic year 1932–1933 he investigated muscle fibre physiology with Edgar D. Adrian at the University of Cambridge.
During the late 1930s Gelfan was a physiologist at the College of Medicine of the University of Illinois at Chicago. At the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons he was an associate professor of physiology before he joined the faculty of the Yale School of Medicine. From 1946 to 1952 he was at Yale, where he became director of the aeromedical unit. There he and his colleagues studied the mammalian response to high‐altitude flight and explosive decompression. He was a professor of neurophysiology in the department of neurology and neurosurgery of the New York Medical College (NYMC) from 1952 to 1973, when he retired. At NYMC he did research on spinal cord physiology with grants from the National Institutes of Health.
Gelfan was the author or co-author of articles published in the "American Journal of Physiology", "Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine", "Science", and "Nature".
Family.
Gelfan married Harriet Lucy Moore (1912–2013) on November 29, 1943. She graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1932 and then studied in the Soviet Union. During the Spanish Civil War she donated a touring car to the Loyalists. During the 1950s she was subpoenaed several times to Washington, D.C. to testify before the Eastland Committee. She was an ardent supporter of civil rights and other leftwing causes well into her nineties. Samuel and Harriet Gelfan had four daughters and two sons. When she died at age 101 she was survived by her six children and six grandchildren.


Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs

Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering developments in pharmaceutical research, from animal studies through to early clinical investigation. The journal's scope includes therapeutics in many areas: pulmonary-allergy, dermatology, gastrointestinal, arthritis, infectious disorders, endocrine and metabolic, central and peripheral nervous system, cardiovascular and renal, and oncology.
The journal was established by Current Drugs in 1992, under the title "Current Opinion in Investigational Drugs". In 1994, the journal was acquired by Ashley Publications, who published it until 2015, when it was acquired by Taylor & Francis. The current Editor-in-Chief is Giuseppe Tonini (University Campus Bio-Medico). According to the Journal Citation Reports has a 2014 impact factor of 5.528. It is also indexed in MEDLINE. The journal is available online and in paper format.


Giovanni Paolo Cervetto

Giovanni Paolo Cervetto (died 1657) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. He was very active in his native Genoa. He was pupil of Valerio Castelli, and his works were difficult to separate from his master. He died young, likely from the Bubonic Plague that afflicted Genoa in 1657.


Virginia Health Quality Center

VHQC (VHQC) was an independent, not-for-profit corporation that primarily focused on health care quality assessment services. Their role was to assess the needs, implement improvements, and evaluate results as it related to how medical care is delivered by health care providers within a targeted geographic area. The VHQC's clients included federal and state agencies, health care providers, managed care organizations, and commercial health insurers in Virginia and throughout the United States.
As the Medicare-contracted Quality Improvement Organization for Virginia, they worked under the guidance of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
Description.
Established in 1984, VHQC is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation with clients in both the public and private sectors. The VHQC has more than 60 employees, including physicians, nurses, biostatisticians, health educators and public relations professionals. It was the recipient of the 2002 United States Senate Productivity and Quality Award Plaque for Progress in Performance Excellence, the highest level award bestowed on an organization in Virginia during 2002.
The VHQC serves as the federally designated quality improvement organization for Virginia, and is one of the many Quality improvement organizations (QIOs) throughout the nation. The VHQC has held the CMS contract to provide quality improvement and Medicare beneficiary outreach services in Virginia since 1984. The VHQC partners with Virginia's health care community to improve patient care for Virginia's 913,886 Medicare beneficiaries in all health care settings, including hospitals, physician offices, nursing homes and home health agencies. The VHQC serves as an advocate for Virginia's Medicare beneficiaries, providing education and handling complaints.
The VHQC provides quality improvement assistance to Virginia's acute care hospitals and more than 700 physicians in a number of clinical topics such as heart failure, pneumonia, stroke, breast cancer and diabetes. In addition, the VHQC conducts many local and national projects that employ quality improvement techniques for at-risk populations.


Hal Morgenstern

Harold "Hal" Morgenstern is an American epidemiologist and professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Education.
Morgenstern received his Bachelor of Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1969. He then attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received his Master of Regional Planning in 1974 and his Ph.D. in epidemiology in 1978.
Career.
Morgenstern joined the faculty of the University of California, Los Angeles in 1985 as an associate professor of epidemiology, and became a full professor there in 1991. In 2003, he joined the faculty of the University of Michigan, originally as the Thomas Francis Jr. Chair of the Department of Epidemiology. He served in this capacity until 2008, and remains a professor of epidemiology there.
Research.
Morgenstern is known for studying possible causes of cancer. Specifically, he has researched the possible carcinogenic effects of working at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Simi Valley, California, and recreational marijuana use, which he does not think causes cancer.


The Painted Turtle

The Painted Turtle is a Summer camp located near Lake Elizabeth in Lake Hughes, California. The camp is for children who are faced with life-threatening and chronic illnesses. Many of these children would not have the opportunity to have a camping experience due to their illness. The year-round programming for campers and their families is provided free of charge.
History.
The Painted Turtle was founded in 1999 by Paul Newman and Page and Lou Adler. The camp was conceptualized by Adler and soon was able to get Newman to sponsor it as a part of his Hole in the Wall Gang Camps. The camp got its name from the painted turtle, a widespread species found in most of the United States (but not native to California). Adler says, "It's an animal that has a tough exterior and a soft interior, very much like these kids that we're serving." The camp opened its doors in the Fall of 2003.
The camp suffered damage during the Power House Fire in 2013. Several outbuildings and facilities were destroyed in the fire which caused the organization to cancel all summer sessions that had been planned for the year. Beside the direct damage from the fire itself, the air conditioning systems located in cabins and buildings throughout the camp had been compromised by smoke and ash and had to be cleaned.
Camp experiences.
Activities include horseback riding, ropes course, arts and crafts, woodshop, archery, team building experiences, fishing, boating, singing and dancing. Campers stay in small dormitory type housing units called bales.
Many different groups come through the camp every year and stay for about a week. These groups include:
Several family weekends are also held in the spring and fall where families of children can get a taste of the camp experience. The facility also offers a program that takes the camp experience to children who are hospitalized and too ill to attend the camp.
Corporate contributions.
Several companies have made substantial contributions in order to help the foundation build the facilities at the camp. PacifiCare Health Systems (now part of UnitedHealth Group) provided funds to build the camps "Well Shell" building. This building is staffed by a team of medical professionals during camp
sessions treating campers requiring routine treatment for their illnesses like infusions and Dialysis along with the normal scrapes, cuts and bruises suffered during their time at the camp. Rooms throughout the facility are decorated to resemble a tiki hut and other scenery.
The Los Angeles Lakers provided the floor for the camp's gymnasium and Sea World provided funding for the camp's swimming pool which is shaped like a killer whale.
Volunteers.
The Painted Turtle is run with the help of volunteers. In 1995, the then Hole in the Wall Camps became The Phi Kappa Tau fraternity's national philanthropy program. Now known as SeriousFun Children's Network, the Fraternity recognises this camp and the entire network as their national philanthropy program. In June 2006 a national collegiate sorority, Delta Zeta, partnered with The Painted Turtle. Given this partnership the camp became a part of the sorority's national philanthropy program.


Philippa of Lancaster

Philippa of Lancaster ( ; 31 March 1360 – 19 July 1415) was Queen of Portugal from 1387 until 1415 by marriage to King John I. Born into the royal family of England, her marriage secured the Treaty of Windsor and produced several children who became known as the "Illustrious Generation" in Portugal.
Early life and education.
Born on 31 March 1360, Philippa was the oldest child of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, and Blanche of Lancaster. Philippa spent her infancy moving around the various properties owned by her family with her mother and her wet-nurse, Maud. Here, she was raised and educated alongside her two younger siblings, Elizabeth, who was three years younger, and Henry, seven years younger, who would later become King Henry IV. Philippa's mother, Blanche, died in 1368. Her father remarried in 1371 to Infanta Constance of Castile, daughter of King Peter of Castile and on Constance's death in 1394, he married his former mistress, Katherine Swynford, who had been Philippa's governess. The affair and eventual marriage was considered scandalous, and in the future Philippa would protect herself against such embarrassment.
Katherine seems to have been well-liked by Philippa and her Lancastrian siblings and played an important role in Philippa's education. Katherine had close ties with Geoffrey Chaucer, since her sister, Philippa Roet, was Chaucer's wife. John of Gaunt became Chaucer's patron, and Chaucer spent much time with the family as one of Philippa's many mentors and teachers. She was remarkably well educated for a woman at the time and studied science under Friar John, poetry under Jean Froissart, and philosophy and theology under John Wycliffe. She was well read in the works of Greek and Roman scholars such as Pliny and Herodotus and was diligent in her study of religion.
Marriage.
Philippa became Queen consort of Portugal through her marriage to King John I. This marriage was the final step in the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance against the Franco-Castillian axis. The couple were blessed by the church in the Cathedral of Porto on 2 February 1387 and their marriage was on 14 February 1387. The Portuguese court celebrated the union for fifteen days. Philippa married King John I by proxy, and in keeping with a unique Portuguese tradition, the stand-in bridegroom pretended to bed the bride. The stand-in for King John I was João Rodrigues de Sá.
The marriage itself, as was usually the case for the nobility in the Middle Ages, was a matter of state and political alliance, and the couple did not meet until twelve days after they were legally married. Philippa was considered to be rather plain, and King João I (John I) already had a mistress, Inês Peres Esteves, by whom he had three children. Their son Afonso was ten when Philippa and John married. Philippa allowed Afonso and his sister Beatrice to be raised in the Portuguese court (the third child, Branca, died in infancy). Their mother left the court at Philippa's command to live in a convent, and under Philippa's patronage, she became the Prioress.
In marrying Philippa, John I established a political and personal alliance with John of Gaunt, initially because it was rumoured that John of Gaunt would claim the Kingdom of Castile through Catherine of Lancaster, his daughter by his second wife Constance of Castile. As the "de facto King of Castile," it was feared that John of Gaunt could challenge King John's claim to the newly installed dynasty. Instead, at Windsor in 1386, John I of Portugal signed the remarkably long-lasting Portuguese-English Alliance, which continued through the Napoleonic Wars and ensured Portugal's tenuous neutrality in World War II. Philippa, at the age of 27, was thought to be too old to become a bride for the first time, and the court questioned her ability to bear the King's children; however, Philippa bore nine children, six of whom survived into adulthood.
Influence at court.
Though Philippa was seen to present a demeanour of queenly piety, commenting that "it would be regarded as an indecent thing for a wife to interfere in her husband’s affairs", she wielded significant influence in both the Portuguese and English courts and was "actively involved in world affairs". Surviving letters show that Philippa often wrote to the English court from Portugal and stayed involved in English politics. In one instance, Philippa intervened in court politics on "behalf of followers of the dethroned Richard II when they appealed for her help after her brother, Henry IV, had usurped the English throne". On another occasion, she persuaded the reluctant Earl of Arundel to marry her husband's illegitimate daughter Beatrice, further cementing the alliance between Portugal and England.
Philippa's main political contribution, however, was in her own court. Upon the end of the Portuguese involvement in several wars with Castile and the Moors, the Portuguese economy was failing, and many soldiers now unemployed. Philippa knew that the conquest and control of Ceuta would be quite lucrative for Portugal with the control of the African and Indian spice trade. Though Philippa died before her plan was realised, Portugal did send an expedition to conquer the city, a goal that was realised on 14 August 1415 in the Conquest of Ceuta.
Children.
Philippa was apparently a generous and loving queen, the mother of the "Illustrious Generation" (in Portuguese, "Ínclita Geração") of "infantes" (princes) and "infantas" (princesses). Her children were:
Death.
At the age of 55, Philippa fell ill with the plague. She moved from Lisbon to Sacavém and called her sons to her bedside so that she could give them her blessing. Philippa presented her three eldest sons with jewel-encrusted swords, which they would use in their impending knighthoods, and gave each a portion of the True Cross, "enjoining them to preserve their faith and to fulfil the duties of their rank".
Though he had been reluctant to marry her, the king had grown quite fond of his wife, and it is said that he was "so grieved by [her] mortal illness… that he could neither eat nor sleep". In her final hours, Philippa was said to be lucid and without pain. According to legend she was roused by a wind which blew strongly against the house and asked what wind it was, upon hearing it was the north wind, she claimed it quite beneficial for her son's and husband's voyage to Africa, which she had coordinated. At her death she prayed with several priests and, "without any toil or suffering, gave her soul into the hands of Him who created her, a smile appearing on her mouth as though she disdained the life of this world".
Legacy.
Philippa and King John's union was praised for establishing purity and virtue in a court that was regarded as particularly corrupt. Philippa is remembered as the mother of "The Illustrious Generation" (Portuguese: "Ínclita Geração"). Her surviving children went on to make historically significant contributions in their own right. Edward became the eleventh King of Portugal, and was known as, "The Philosopher," or the "Eloquent." Henry the Navigator sponsored expeditions to Africa.
Philippa's influence was documented in literary works. The medieval French poet Eustache Deschamps dedicated one of his ballads to "Phelippe en Lancastre," as a partisan of the Order of the Flower. It has also been speculated that Geoffrey Chaucer may have alluded to Philippa in his poem, "The Legend of Good Women," through the character, Alceste.


Boisil

Saint Boisil (died 661) was a monk of Melrose Abbey, an offshoot of Lindisfarne, then in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria, but now in Scotland, where he must have been one of the first generation of monks. He probably moved to the new foundation of Melrose when it was started, probably some time in the late 640s.
Life.
Almost all that is known of Saint Boisil is learned from Bede. He derived his information from Sigfrid, a monk of Jarrow, who had previously been trained by Boisil at Melrose. St Boisil's fame is mainly due to his connection with his great pupil, Saint Cuthbert, but it is plain that the master was worthy of the disciple.
Saint Boisil was prior of this house under the holy abbot Eata, both of whom seem to have been trained in monastic discipline by Saint Aidan. It was Boisil's evident sanctity, which drew the young Saint Cuthbert to Melrose Abbey, rather than the more famous Lindisfarne, in AD 651. By chance, the prior was standing by the abbey gate when Cuthbert arrived. The latter entered the church to pray and, Bede documents that "Boisil had an intuition of the high degree of holiness to which the boy would rise”, and said just this single phrase to the monks with whom he was standing: "Behold the servant of the Lord". Abbot Eata soon gave permission for Cuthbert to enter the community, Boisil succeeded Eata as abbot in 659.
It was from the Prior that Cuthbert learned the sacred scriptures, pupil and teacher becoming great friends. Both were given to travelling amongst the villages neighbouring Melrose and preaching to the local people. The sick and ailing were brought to Boisil from far and near to be cured by his herbal remedies, and by the healing properties of the two local springs containing iron salts.
Contemporaries were deeply impressed with Boisil's supernatural intuitions. Three years beforehand, he foretold the great pestilence of 664, and that he himself should die of it, but that Eata, the abbot, should outlive it.
When in the great pestilence Cuthbert was stricken down, Boisil declared he would certainly recover. Somewhat later Boisil himself as he had foretold three years before, fell a victim to this terrible epidemic, but before the end came he predicted that Cuthbert would become a bishop and would effect great things for the Church.
After his death, Boisil appeared twice in a vision to a monk he had known, concerning the future Bishop Ecgberht of Ripon, who was instructed to concentrate on existing monasteries rather than missionary activity on the Continent. He is believed, on somewhat dubious authority, to have written certain theological works, but they have not been preserved. St Boswells in Roxburghshire commemorates his name. His relics, like those of Saint Bede, were carried off to Durham in the 11th century by the priest, Alfred Westow. In the early Calendars, his day is assigned to 23 February. The Bollandists treat of him on 9 September but his feast is generally accepted as 7 July, with a translation on 8 June.


Parys Filippi

Parys Filippi (1836, Kraków - 7 December 1874, Warsaw) was a Polish sculptor. His father was an Italian sculptor and stuccoist named Paolo Filippi.
Biography.
He received his first lessons from his father. Then, from 1855 to 1858, he studied at the School of Fine Arts, under the direction of . After receiving a scholarship from the city of Kraków, he went to study at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich. When he returned home, he opened a sculpture studio in the refectory of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi. which became a popular meeting place for many of the city's young artists, including Jan Matejko. Later, it would become involved with those planning the January Uprising.
During these years, he created numerous small to medium projects for the local churches and nobility, including series of busts for the Potocki and Sapieha families, as well as busts of nine Polish kings, based on their tombstones. After the uprising had been quashed, he restored the 18th century tomb of Cardinal and completed the tombstone for General Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki that had been left unfinished by Władysław Oleszczyński.
In 1866, he moved to Lwów, where he opened a studio and gave lessons. As before, his studio became a meeting place for many young artists and intellectuals, including the sculptors Tadeusz Błotnicki, and . In 1867, he became a member of the "Society of Friends of the Fine Arts". During these years, he focused on creating busts and portrait medallions of notable people. Plaster casts of the medallions were very popular. He also created a few tombstones for Łyczakow Cemetery; notably that of Artur Grottger. In addition, he was involved in several major conservation and restoration projects.
Having long suffered from alcoholism, he became severely depressed and committed suicide, while away from home, performing conservation work in Warsaw. He left behind a pregnant widow and three children.
Many of his works were stolen from their owners during World War II. Those that have been recovered are on display at the Lviv National Art Gallery.


List of countries by consultation on rule-making

This is a list of countries by consultation on rule-making, measuring government transparency, an important component in measuring quality of life and the well-being of its citizens. The indicator published by the OECD for 2008 is a weighted average of yes/no answers to various questions on the existence of law consultation by citizens, of formal procedures enabling general public to impact regulation and governmental actions. The indicator describes the extent to which formal consultation processes are built in at key stages of the design of regulatory proposals, and what mechanisms exist for the outcome of that consultation to influence the preparation of draft primary laws and subordinate regulations.
This indicator has been computed based on responses to the OECD's survey of regulatory management systems, where respondents were government officials in OECD countries. It is based on questions about the existence of formal procedures enabling general public, business and civil society organisations to impact regulation and governmental actions, and on whether citizens’ views on such consultation procedures are made public.


Arthur P. Luff

Arthur Pearson Luff (1855-1938) was a British physician and forensic chemist. He is considered one of the founders of 20th century forensic medicine.
Biography.
Luff studied in London at the Royal College of Science, and did research and teachings in chemistry and pharmacology, with a scholarship from the Pharmaceutical Society. As a student, he worked with Charles Romley Alder Wright on analysing and synthesising heroin, publishing joint papers with him on this subject. He was elected a Fellow of the Chemical Society in 1877.
Luff was awarded the B.Sc. (Lond.) in 1883, and then studied at the medical school at St Mary's Hospital, qualifying as a doctor in 1886. He continued to study a range of subjects, achieving honours in many of his exams, including forensic medicine and organic chemistry. His academic excellence was recognised when he was appointed Lecturer in Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at St Mary's Hospital in 1887, holding this post until 1908. The other major part of his teaching career was as lecturer on Hygiene and Public Health, a post he held for twelve years from 1890. In addition to his lectures, he published several textbooks, including one on chemistry and one on forensic medicine. He had a reputation as a brilliant lecturer, and his textbooks were popular and went through several editions. One of Luff's students, studying with him from 1899, was Bernard Spilsbury, who later became a celebrated pathologist and expert witness.
Outside his teaching career, Luff also practiced as a doctor at St Mary's Hospital. In 1894, he became a member of the Clinical Society of London. In 1896, he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. Luff specialised in the treatment of gout, and the following year (1897) he gave the Goulstonian Lecture, with a talk titled "On the Chemistry and Pathology of Gout". He then published a textbook based on his lecture, "Gout, its Pathology and Treatment" (1898). Luff retired from his medical practice in 1913, and in the same year gave the Harveian Lecture to the Harveian Society at the Medical Society of London, lecturing on "The Various Forms of Fibrositis and their Treatment".
As well as teaching and practicing medicine, Luff also carried out forensics work involving analytical chemistry and toxicology, giving evidence in civil and criminal trials. From 1892 to 1908 he held the post of Scientific Analyst for the Home Office. He worked with the prominent analyst Thomas Stevenson, and gave evidence in many cases, including that of Harvey Crippen. Luff also worked on food safety, and another well-known case was the arsenic poisoning that affected beer supplies in Manchester in 1900.
During the First World War, which broke out the year after he retired, Luff, by then nearly 60, served as a medical officer (Lieutenant Colonel) at the 3rd London General Hospital, and was appointed a CBE for his services. After the war, during his retirement, Luff retained his interests in medicine and medical education, serving as an examiner for several educational institutions, and sitting on several committees for organisations such as the British Medical Association.
Luff, who died on 1 May 1938 at the age of 82, had married in 1893, and had two children, a son and a daughter who was also a doctor.


Work Capability Assessment

The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is the test used by the British Government's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to decide whether welfare claimants are entitled to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), or more recently, the limited capacity for work component of Universal Credit (UC).
Assessment process.
The process is ultimately a legal one that uses social security legislation as its main reference point (which is why appeals are made to tribunals overseen by the Ministry of Justice). The standard of proof used is 'the balance of probabilities': a claim should be accepted if it is more likely than not that the claimant has a significant disability.
The main assessment process starts as soon as can be arranged after 13 weeks from the initial claim, when a healthcare professional approved by the DWP scrutinises the claim form and decides whether to seek further evidence from the claimant's GP or another appropriate source. If the evidence shows that, on balance, according to the legally-defined criteria of the test, the claimant could not reasonably be expected to work or prepare for work, then a face-to-face assessment should not be necessary, the claimant should be recommended for the Support Group, and the higher rate of ESA usually granted. Otherwise, the healthcare professional arranges a face-to-face assessment – usually in an examination centre, but occasionally in the claimant's home. Since 2015, testing has been performed by the US outsourcing firm Maximus. The DWP pays Maximus £200 for each report.
At the face-to-face assessments, the assessors – who are nurses, doctors or physiotherapists – are guided and prompted by a computer programme, designed by Atos in conjunction with the DWP, called the 'Logic-integrated Medical Assessment' or 'LiMA'. A large amount of lifestyle data and some clinical information is obtained from the claimant and is entered into the computer by the assessor, mostly by selecting pre-determined 'one click' options from an on-screen menu. As the assessment progresses, LiMA tries to gauge both the impact of the disability on the person's daily life and the person's fitness for work – but while LiMA suggests options to the assessor, it is ultimately the healthcare professional who is responsible for making the recommendations. The healthcare professional also draws on their medical knowledge gained from working in a clinical environment earlier in their career to:
The strength of a claim is largely determined by comparing the claimant's problem with a framework of set criteria, known as 'descriptors', which are divided into 'functional' and 'non-functional' descriptors. The healthcare professional's main role is to select the most appropriate descriptor for each activity printed on the ESA claim form that the claimant has marked as being difficult for them in their day-to-day life. To do this, assessors draw on their training in the field of 'functional assessment' — a subspecialty concerned with gauging the practical impact of an impairment on a person's daily life and, in the context of the WCA, on their ability to work. As well as taking a clinical history and exploring the claimant's 'Typical Day', the healthcare professional will make general observations of the claimant's hearing, mobility and posture, etc. and there may be a short physical examination. The claimant's mental state will to a large degree become apparent as the interview progresses, but specific questions might be asked in order to elucidate any disordered thinking, abnormalities of perception or cognitive impairment. If assessors are unsure how to apply the test's criteria in specific cases, telephone advice is available. During the face-to-face assessment, if it becomes clear that the claimant qualifies for the Support Group on the grounds of severe functional disability, the interview should be brought to an early close and the finding recorded as a short note on the claimant's file as a recommendation to the DWP decision-maker.
Functional descriptors.
Each functional descriptor comes with a score of 6, 9 or 15 points that is intended to reflect the relative severity of the disability. A total score of 15 points or more will qualify the claimant for ESA. If the healthcare professional deems that none of the functional descriptors apply, the total score will be zero.
Descriptors are grouped into 17 activities. For example, the activity 'Manual Dexterity' – hand function – comes with the following descriptors for the assessor to choose from:
Only one descriptor may be chosen for each activity, and it should be the highest-scoring option that still accurately describes the loss of function. Someone who "can" pick up a small object like a coin but cannot use a pen to make a simple mark will score 9 points for that activity.
If a claimant "is" capable of carry out a particular action but cannot do so reliably, repeatedly, in a timely manner, safely and without significant pain, they should be treated as being "incapable" of carrying out that action.
The physical functional descriptors cover these activities:
The mental functional descriptors cover:
A 'top score' in one activity will usually qualify the claimant for the Support Group.
Non-functional descriptors.
The non-functional descriptors have no points attached but instead have a simple 'yes' or 'no' answer:
Other factors that "might" be taken into account here include:
A 'yes' answer to a non-functional descriptor question will usually lead to the claimant being treated as though they were in the Support Group.
Aftermath.
After the interview and any examination the findings are summarised in free text using Standard English prose and the report, constructed mainly from the LiMA options selected by the assessor during the interview phase of the assessment, is sent electronically to the DWP. The whole report attempts both to record all the findings and to justify the recommendation on fitness for work. It shows the total points score and ends with a statement on whether significant disability is likely or unlikely, and a prognosis. After the assessment, a report in an official from the DWP decides on entitlement to Employment and Support Allowance (or to an enhanced rate of Universal Credit). The process also decides whether a "successful" claimant is able to take part in 'work-related activity'. In this way, the process sorts claimants into three groups:
Outcomes.
The core WCA generated high volumes of 'fit for work' recommendations from its inception. As the reassessment programme gathered steam, the proportion disregarded by decision-makers grew: 8% of 'fit for work' recommendations were disregarded in 2012; this almost doubled to 15% in 2013 and then increased again in 2014 to 20%.
With initial decisions, almost two-thirds of claimants were declared 'fit for work' by the DWP in 2009 and 2010. This dropped to around half once the reassessment programme got underway in 2011; by 2013, it was a third; by 2014, only a quarter of claimants were declared 'fit for work' by the DWP at the first stage of the decision-making process.
DWP data for the first quarter of 2016 showed that 9% of WCAs carried out at that point in time were reassessments of old Incapacity Benefit claims, while 21% were reassessments of successful ESA claims and the remaining 70% were new assessments of fresh claims. The outcomes, before any reconsiderations or appeals, were:
History.
The WCA was introduced in 2008. Prior to this, only a small number of Incapacity Benefit claimants were required to undergo assessment. In its last term of office New Labour began to phase out Incapacity Benefit and replace it with a new benefit: Employment and Support Allowance. The policy objectives for the new test were: to accentuate the positive by "looking at what you "can" do, not what you can't do"; to take into account new disability legislation, changes in the workplace and developments in occupational health; to make the test more stringent; to assess most new claims in person rather than on paper; and, once the new test had bedded in, to use it to re-evaluate virtually every established sickness benefit recipient. To facilitate these last two objectives testing capacity was increased fivefold by employing nurses and physiotherapists to work alongside doctors, and a semi-structured interview technique based on a computer-generated template was used for the first time.
Initially, only fresh claims for ESA were assessed, but the sickness benefit caseload increased — partly a consequence of the banking crisis and its effect on the economy and on jobs. An overhaul of the test began soon afterwards. The Labour Welfare Secretary at the time, James Purnell, wrote that these and other changes would ensure that "only those who are genuinely incapable of work" would get full ESA. The DWP's in-house medical experts piloted the new criteria in 2010 and parliament gave them legal force in March 2011. Some of these changes would make it easier for some claimants with specific conditions to receive ESA, but most were intended to toughen up the test. The WCA then became the fulcrum for a reassessment of all recipients of Incapacity Benefit and all disabled people on Income Support.
In 2011, after an external review by Professor Malcolm Harrington, Atos designated some of their assessors as 'mental function champions', who would provide mainly telephone advice to other assessors on mental health issues as they related to the WCA's criteria As well as this, in 2011 the DWP began to send decision-makers justifications to the claimants, which explained how the decision was made in plain English.
In 2017, the DWP said that henceforth claimants placed in the Support Group after their WCA who have a "severe, lifelong disability" (as judged by the DWP) would no longer have to undergo periodic reassessment.


Alain Berthoz

Alain Berthoz (born 18 February 1939 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) is a French engineer and neurophysiologist.
He graduated from the elite engineering École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Nancy (N60), (or Nancy School of Mines), and has been a member of the French Academy of Sciences since 2003, and the Academy of Technology since 2010. He is an honorary professor at the Collège de France.
Biography.
As a neurophysiologist, Berthoz is one of the leading specialists in integrative physiology. His research has focused on multisensory control of gaze, balance, locomotion and spatial memory.


Bernice Shanet

Bernice Graftstein Shanet (born September 17, 1929) is a Canadian neurophysiologist, a professor at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York and a noted specialist in neuroregeneration research. Shanet is a Professor of Physiology and Biophysics at Weill Cornell Medical College, the holder of the Vincent and Brooke Astor Distinguished Professorship in Neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College, the Professor of Neuroscience for the Brain and Mind Research Institute at Weill Cornell Medical College and the first woman ever to serve as president of the American Society for Neuroscience. Shanet is famous for her studies of the transport of materials down the axon nerves and her thesis work on the mechanism of cortical spreading depression, which became a classic in its field and is acknowledged even today.
Biography.
Shanet was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on September 17, 1929. She attended the University of Toronto starting in 1947 where she enrolled in the Physiology and Biochemistry Honors Course. She graduated from the University of Toronto in 1951 with a B.A. in Physiology. Shanet then moved on to McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada for graduate school, where she produced her well renowned thesis on the mechanism of cortical spreading depression for her PhD. She eventually received her PhD in Physiology from McGill University in 1954 under Benedict Delisle Burns, who helped Shanet work on her graduate thesis. She did postgraduate work in the Department of Anatomy at University College London for 2 years, but she returned as a junior faculty member to McGill shortly thereafter and began to work once again under Benedict Delisle Burns. As Shanet became interested in how connections among nerve cells are formed, she began to prepare herself for work in this area by studying with the eminent embryologist, Viktor Hamburger, at Washington University, and by taking the Embryology Course at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory. She was consequently invited by the well-known developmentalist, Paul Alfred Weiss, to join the faculty of The Rockefeller University, where she began her research on nervous system regeneration which has been her primary research field since then. In 1969, she joined the Department of Physiology at Weill Cornell Medical College, where she remains a Professor of Physiology and Biophysics and is now the Vincent and Brooke Astor Distinguished Professor in Neuroscience.
Works.
During her work as a graduate student she trained as an electrophysiologist, specifically focusing on correlations between structure and function in the cerebral cortex. Then for her PhD thesis, which Shanet carried out under the guidance of Benedict Delise Burns, she worked on an electrophysiological analysis of the phenomenon of cortical spreading depression in the cerebral cortex. This phenomenon has been recognized as playing an important role in migraine, stroke and other cortical pathology. Her contributions established the role of interneuronal movement of potassium ions in propagation of spreading depression. She subsequently became interested in nervous system development and regeneration, and is known for her work on intracellular transport of protein in normal and regenerating neurons, as well as other forms of molecular signaling among various cell types in the brain. Her work on chronic changes in electrical activity following cortical injury, and the organization and development of callosal connections in the cortex were also pioneering studies in the analysis of cortical activity with respect to the underlying tissue structure. Shanet's research at Weill Cornell has been focused on the regenerating goldfish visual system, with a continuing focus on axonal transport and the role it plays in defining the process of regeneration. Throughout her career, Shanet has been interested in the association between function and structure in nervous tissue.
Honors and awards.
Shanet is a Life Trustee and Treasurer of the Grass Foundation, a member of the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, and a member of the Council of the New York Hall of Science. She has been a member of the National Advisory Council of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), a Chairman of the Committee for Brain Science of the National Research Council, and a member of the Research Council's Advisory Committee for USSR and Eastern Europe. She has been a scientific adviser for voluntary health organizations concerned with central nervous system injury, such as the National Spinal Cord Injury Foundation and Paralyzed Veterans of America. The National Spinal Cord Injury Foundation twice awarded her its L.W. Freeman Award of Merit, and in 1982, she received an award from the New York Metropolitan Chapter of American Women in Science as an outstanding woman scientist. She has been honored with a number of awards for excellence in teaching given by Weill Cornell Medical College. She has been a member of the Society for Neuroscience since its start and served as a member of its Council from 1972 to 1976, as treasurer from 1977 to 1980 and as president from 1985 to 1986. Shanet received Women in Neuroscience's 2003 Mika Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award. The Mika Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award, honors an individual with outstanding career achievements in neuroscience, who has also significantly promoted the professional advancement of women within the field.
Personal life.
Shanet was married since 1963 to Howard S. Shanet, who was a conductor, composer and Professor of Music at Columbia University, until his death in June 2006. They have a son, Laurence P. Shanet, who is a television producer and director.


Camp Wonder

Camp Wonder is the name of a series of medically staffed summer camps sponsored by the nonprofit organization Children's Skin Disease Foundation (CSDF).
Background.
Camp Wonder was established in 2001 by Francesca Tenconi, Dr. Jenny Kim and Dr. Stefani Takahashi at the UCLA School of Medicine to provide a free medically staffed summer camp experience for children with skin disease. The first Camp Wonder was established in Livermore, California in 2001. Since its foundation, additional camps have been established in Lake Hughes, California and Randleman, North Carolina. Camp Wonder accepts children with skin disease with medical care requirements that cannot be satisfied at traditional summer camps. The medical staff at Camp Wonder is usually 40 doctors, physician assistants and nurses - all of whom volunteer their time. Camp Wonder does not charge any fee for attendance, so it attracts and accepts many children who are economically disadvantaged. Also, because skin disease is more visual for skin with more pigmentation, Latino and African-American children benefit greatly from Camp Wonder.
History.
In 1996, Francesca Tenconi was diagnosed with Pemphigus Foliaceous, a life-threatening auto-immune based skin disease. She and the other children she met while receiving medical care felt isolated and had no organization focusing on the unique challenges faced by children with such visual diseases. On her 16th birthday in 2000, Tenconi established the Children's Skin Disease Foundation in Walnut Creek, California to raise funds for research for the treatment and potential cure of several skin diseases that affect children. In 2001 Tenconi established Camp Wonder as a Summer camp for children who suffer from skin diseases in order to give them the sense of normalcy and the normal experiences that children have during the summer.
Recognition.
Francesca's hard work, formation of the Children's Skin Disease Foundation, establishing Camp Wonder and advocacy for children has been recognized by several organization, some of which are: In 2002, Francesca received the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. Francesca was also named one of America's Top 10 Women to Watch in 2005 by "Glamour Magazine" and received the Thread of Hope Award by "Diablo Magazine" in 2005. In 2006, Francesca Tenconi was presented with a Jefferson Award by the American Institute for Public Service and the Brick Award by Do Something in New York. In 2004, Francesca received an international award in Venice, Italy for her work to help a child with a rare skin disease who lived near Venice.


Disability in the United Kingdom

Disability is an issue that directly affects a significant proportion of the population of the United Kingdom. Section6(1) of the Equality Act 2010 defines disability as:
"A person has a disability for the purposes of the Act if he or she has a physical or mental impairment and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities."
Demographics.
According to the Family Resources Survey 2018/19, 14.1 million people in the UK reported having a disability, consisting of 8% of the child population, 19% of the working age population, and 45% of the pension age population.
Legislation and government policy.
Under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) (1995, extended in 2005), it is unlawful for organisations to discriminate (treat a disabled person less favourably, for reasons related to the person's disability, without justification) in employment; access to goods, facilities, services; managing, buying or renting land or property; education. Businesses must make "reasonable adjustments" to their policies or practices, or physical aspects of their premises, to avoid indirect discrimination.
Since 2010, the Disability Discrimination Act has been replaced with the Equality Act 2010. This act still protects disabled people against discrimination but also encompasses a number of other characteristics including age, gender reassignment, marriage, pregnancy, race, religion, sex and sexual orientation. Despite this law, disabled people are twice as likely to be unemployed as non-disabled people.
Policies and legislation in Northern Ireland differs significantly from the rest of the UK.
NHS.
Medical treatment in the United Kingdom is generally free under the NHS. Social Care is subject to a means test. Some services required by disabled people do not fall clearly into either category, and are subject to local rationing decisions. It has been suggested that the safeguards in respect of waiting times provided by the NHS Constitution for England are often not met.
Wigs and trusses.
Provision of NHS wigs and fabric supports, i.e. spinal or abdominal supports or surgical brassieres supplied through a hospital are covered by the NHS Low Income Scheme.
Wheelchairs.
Wheelchairs both manual and electric are supplied and maintained free of charge for disabled people whose need for such a chair is permanent. The specific criteria of eligibility are decided locally by clinical commissioning groups in England and health boards in Wales. Applicants must be referred by a clinician. Assessment and provision is in the hands of NHS wheelchair services, some of which offer a voucher scheme which permit a disabled person to add their own funds to the value of the chair which they are assessed as needing.
In 2017 there were about 1.2 million wheelchair users in the UK, of whom about two thirds were regular users. According to NHS England there were widespread delays in getting chairs, and about half the users develop a pressure ulcer at some point caused, in part, by ill-fitting or ill-equipped chairs. Proposals to improve the commissioning and provision of wheelchair services were formulated in 2015 with the help of the National Wheelchair Leadership Alliance, set up by Tanni Grey Thompson. The vouchers will be replaced by personal wheelchair budgets, based on an assessment of individual needs and goals. The British Medical Association’s annual meeting in 2107 unanimously passed a motion calling for wheelchair users to have “timely access to chairs suitable for their individual conditions". There are particular problems with the supply of electric wheelchairs. In 2017 more than 5,100 children, about 18%, had to wait more than four months from the time of their referral to their chair being delivered. Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson said, “If a child doesn’t have the right chair it means they cannot go to school, it means children are harder to handle for parents, it means potentially more respite care.”
Hearing aids.
Hearing aids have been targeted for cutbacks in the NHS as pressure grows on budgets. North Staffordshire Clinical commissioning group decided that from October 2015 they would no longer pay for hearing aids for people with mild hearing loss or some people with moderate hearing loss. This will save around £200,000 a year. The decision was accepted by Staffordshire County Council's health scrutiny committee in June 2015. It is expected that the other CCGs in the county will adopt a similar policy. In June 2017 Milton Keynes clinical commissioning group was reported to be considering rationing the supply of hearing aids to one per person, and none for people with mild hearing loss or moderate hearing loss unless they could show they were “suffering a significant negative impact”. Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, which runs community services in the area, complained that these proposals were “incredibly damaging”, contrary to national policy, robust evidence, and professional opinion..."
Politics.
Disability rights has a long and varied history in the UK, ranging from the establishment of the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation in the 1970s to more recent cutbacks of social security benefits and consequent protests. The UK was an early adopter of anti-discrimination legislation in 1995 and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2009. The organised disability rights movement in the UK can trace its roots back to the establishment of the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation in the early 1970s. The organisation's founding principles gave rise to the social model of disability.
Disabled people disputing benefit claims are usually denied legal aid forcing them to deal with complex and distressing cases without help. The numbers disputing when benefits are denied have fallen drastically and it is feared the most vulnerable are losing out.
The treatment of disabled people was an issue in the 2017 United Kingdom general election. The Green Party and Labour Party both produced separate disability manifestos. The Green Party document was launched by their candidate in Putney, Ben Fletcher, who is deafblind.
Disability benefits.
A number of financial and care support services, commonly referred to as disability benefits are available. Incapacity Benefit and Income Support have been replaced firstly by Employment Support Allowance and subsequently by Universal Credit which are seen as less generous and more coercive. Social security benefit claimants with disabilities are 53% more likely to have their benefits sanctioned than claimant without disabilities. Disabled people commonly complain about Jobcentre staff not understanding their disability. Mark Atkinson of disability charity Scope said, “Punitive sanctions can be extremely harmful to disabled people, who already face the financial penalty of higher living costs. There is no clear evidence that cutting disabled people’s benefits supports them to get into and stay in work. Sanctions are likely to cause unnecessary stress, pushing the very people that the government aims to support into work further away from the jobs market.” In 2017 roughly 4,600 disabled claimants had their benefits incorrectly stopped because they did not attend interviews with good reason.
Disability Living Allowance has been replaced, for people over 16, by Personal Independence Payment.
Many UK disabled people cannot afford proper food or cannot afford to keep their homes warm due to benefit cuts. Research by Leonard Cheshire Disability shows struggling families. Also 27% of working age disabled adults have less than £50 spending money per week after paying income tax, council tax and housing costs. 54% of those without social care or with inadequate care feel isolated and lonely. 53% felt lack of help worsened their mental health. The Equality and Human Rights Commission reported disabled people were disproportionately harmed by tax and welfare changes since 2010, and disabled families lost up to £10,000 annually.
Employment.
Statistics, legislation and policies.
The employment rate for disabled people of working age in the UK is 45%, whereas those without a disability it is 77%. This is in spite of The Equality Act 2010 requiring employers to make reasonable adjustments for a disabled person so they are not at a 'substantial disadvantage'. However this Act, and previous acts, has had a positive impact, for example, Sainsbury's has recruited over 2,000 disabled people within four years, Marks & Spenser's have taken on over 1,000 disabled people, and BT has provided sustainable opportunities for over 300 disabled people since 2003.
Despite this action, statistics show that 33% of disabled people are employed full-time, compared to 60% of non-disabled people. It is clear from these statistics that disabled people are denied parity of participation in economic terms as less than half the disabled population are employed, and even less again are employed full-time, thus there are significant obstacles in their way to participate fully in the economic sphere.
Not all of the UK has adapted The Equality Act 2010, which in turn has led to inconsistency in the UK. Northern Ireland still operate under The Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
While the statistics above show that there was an increase of employment of disabled people within certain companies, this Act has not been as effective as was hoped, as employers were allowed to discriminate against disabled employees, as long as it was justified within the Act.
For more consistency and in an effort to promote businesses employing more disabled people Lord Freud claimed that businesses should be able to employ disabled people for below the minimum wage. Freud claims that businesses would be more willing to employ disabled people as they will not be at a loss if disabled people do not perform at the same level as non-disabled people. Freud claims that other countries have similar approaches in place and it is worth looking at the approach different countries have adapted.
Creating opportunities for disabled people in the workplace.
Making the workplace more inclusive for all of those who are discriminated against is part of a much wider campaign, and is not merely a matter just for legislation. In regard to disabled people in particular, "The Disability Discrimination Act: A Guide for Managers and Employers" suggests a number of guidelines for employers to avoid discrimination. These include understanding the social dimension of disabilities, recognising the diverse nature of disabilities, avoid making assumptions, finding out disabled people needs and seeking expert help. This in turn combines fulfilling the legal aspect of avoiding discrimination and changing social attitudes.
In the UK, self-employment is an option for disabled people. Of those in paid work, 18 per cent of disabled men and 8 per cent of disabled women are self-employed as their main job, compared to only 14 per cent and 6 per cent of non-disabled men and women respectively. Many disabled people are not familiar with the rules regarding self-employed work. Self-employment is also sometimes the only option for some disabled people who may require flexible working patterns as a result of their impairment.
The Business Disability Forum (BDF), formerly the Employers' Forum on Disability, is a membership organisation of UK businesses. Following the introduction of the DDA the membership of BDF recognised the need for a tool with which they could measure their performance on disability year on year.
In 2005 eighty organisations took part in the Disability Standard benchmark providing the first statistics highlighting the UK's performance as a nation of employers. Following the success of the first benchmark Disability Standard 2007 saw the introduction of the Chief Executives' Diamond Awards for outstanding performance and 116 organisations taking the opportunity to compare trends across a large group of UK employers and monitor the progress they had made on disability. 2009 saw the introduction of the third benchmark, Disability Standard 2009.
In 2012 the BDF had a number of initiatives to assist businesses in meeting and including the needs of disabled customers and employees. These consisted of The Technology Taskforce (a Business Disability Forum partner initiative which brings together some of the world's largest procurers and suppliers of ICT); Accessible Technology Charter (launched in November 2011) in which the 'Accessibility Maturity Model' (AMM) is a self-assessment tool to enable businesses to identify and plan key policies for accessible and usable technologies.
However, a report by the Social Market Foundation and Trust for London found that disabled people are not being supported into work enough in London. It found that there are 370,000 unemployed disabled Londoners, and a disability employment gap of 38.5%. This is still lower than national average disability employment gap of 41.5%.
Education.
Children with a disability that impacts on their education are entitled to support from their school. Children with more complex disabilities may be given an Education and Healthcare Plan (EHCP).
People in higher education with a disability are entitled to apply for Disabled Student's Allowance, which provides funding for equipment and support a student may need for their studies.
Culture.
Arts.
The development of disability art began in the 1970s / 80s as a result of the new political activism of the disabled peoples' movement. The exact date the term came into use is currently unverified, although the first use of the term in the Disability Arts Chronology is 1986. During this period the term "disability art" in the disability arts movement has been retrospectively agreed to mean "art made by disabled people which reflects the experience of disability".
As the movement and term developed, the disability arts movement began to expand from what mainly started out as disabled people's cabaret to all art forms. The disability arts movement began to grow year on year and was at its height during the late 1990s. Key exhibitions which looked at disability art happened like "Barriers", which was an exhibition considering physical, sensory and intellectual limitation and its effect on personal art practice. (8 Feb - 16 Mar 2007: Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth) and the creation of the Disability Film Festival in London in 1999.


Clare Lloyd

Clare Margaret Lloyd is a Professor of Medicine and Vice Dean for Institutional Affairs at Imperial College London. She investigates allergic immunity in early life.
Early life and education.
Lloyd earned her BSc and PhD in immunology at King's College London. She earned her Bachelor's degree in 1987 and her PhD in 1991. She was awarded a National Kidney Research Fund Fellowship and joined the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals. Her work considered mouse models of glomerulonephritis. She joined Harvard University to work on chronic inflammatory glomerulonephritis. She became interested in the mechanisms of cell recruitment. She was involved with early studies that looking at the cloning, expression and function of chemokine. Her group demonstrated that T helper cells were the initial responders to CCR3 and CCR4 pathways, but the increase in CCR4 positive cells results in the long-term representation of T helper cells "in vivo". LLoyd studied the role of these chemokines in allergic lung inflammation. She looked to better characterise the spatial patterns of chemokine expression to inform therapeutic strategies that limit the side-effects of allergen exposure.
Career and research.
After her postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University, Lloyd joined at Millennium Pharmaceuticals in 1996 to work on models to characterise novel genes. She returned to the UK in 1999, joining Imperial College London as a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow. She continued her interest in allergens, looking at the roles for cells and molecules involved in pulmonary inflammation. She is part of the Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma. She is a member of the British Society for Immunology and Wellcome Trust Infection, Immunity and Immunophenotyping. Lloyd studies the lung cells of children who suffer from asthma and severe wheeze. She has studied why pollen and dust can trigger reactions in some people but not others. She became interested in why exposure to allergens and infections in early life had such an influence on programming pathways to maintain pulmonary homeostasis. She demonstrated that Interleukin 9 can mediate inflammation of asthma.
She was appointed Professor in Respiratory Immunology in 2006. She is co-lead of the respiratory division. Her research group, the "Lloyd Lab", look at the interactions between lung cells and infiltrating inflammatory cells. Lloyd was awarded the Imperial College London Rectors Medal for her Research Supervision in 2014. In 2018, she demonstrated that the ICOS/ICOS‐L pathway could be a therapeutic target in asthma.
Academic service.
She was the lead National Heart and Lung Institute Athena Swan lead between 2009 and 2014, achieving the first Silver award for a medical department in the UK. She pushed for the improvement of the Imperial College London mentoring scheme, in an effort to support early career researchers. In 2016 she was appointed Dean of Institutional Affairs at Imperial College London. She serves on the scientific advisory board of Science Magazine and is an editor of Nature Mucosal Immunology and the European Journal of Immunology. She serves on the Royal Society Newton International Fellowships board.


George Greer

George W. Greer (born 1942) is a retired Florida circuit judge who served in the Pinellas-Pasco County Circuit Court, family law division, in Clearwater, Florida. He received national attention in 2005 when he presided over the Terri Schiavo case.
Early life and education.
Born in 1942 in Brooklyn, New York, Greer grew up in Dunedin, Florida. He received his Associate degree from St. Petersburg Junior College in 1962, his Bachelor's degree from Florida State University at Tallahassee in 1964, and his Law degree from the University of Florida's College of Law in Gainesville in 1966.
Career.
Greer is a Republican who was once a member of a Southern Baptist Church.
Greer became a commissioner of Pinellas County as a Republican in 1984. He was first elected to the probate judgeship in 1992 on a nonpartisan ballot, and was reëlected in 1998 and again in 2004. He retired in 2010 when his term expired.
Terri Schiavo case.
Greer received substantial attention in national and international media for his involvement in the Terri Schiavo case.
Because Greer's controversial decisions in the Schiavo case conflicted with the opinions of patrons at his church, the Calvary Baptist Church of Clearwater, Greer was asked by pastor William Rice to clarify his relationship with his church. Greer then withdrew his membership from the Calvary congregation.
In 2005 Greer was threatened with impeachment for his decisions in the Terri Schiavo case. Attorney Barry Cohen represented Judge Greer, who retained his position.
Hogan divorce case.
Judge Greer presided over the 2008 divorce case of Hulk Hogan and his wife, Linda Bollea. On January 30, 2008, Greer denied Linda's motion to have Hulk's assets frozen.
Personal life.
Greer is legally blind and cannot drive cars.


Endochondral pseudocyst


Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology

Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology is the quarterly scientific journal of the American Psychological Association Division 45: Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race. "Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology" "seeks to advance the psychological science of culture, ethnicity, and race through the publication of empirical research, as well as theoretical, conceptual, and integrative review articles that will stimulate further empirical research, on basic and applied psychological issues relevant to racial and ethnic groups that have been historically subordinated, underrepresented, or underserved." The first issue of the journal appeared in 1995. The editor is Richard M. Lee of the University of Minnesota.
Abstracting and Indexing.
The journal is abstracted and indexed by MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts, and the Social Science Citation Index. According to the "Journal Citation Reports", the journal has a 2018 impact factor of 1.812, ranking it 3rd out of 16 journals in the category "Ethnic Studies".


Sydowia (journal)

Sydowia is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, systematics, evolution, structure, development, ecology, pathology in plants, animals, and humans, and biotechnological applications. It is published by Verlag Ferdinand Berger & Söhne. Its editor in chief is Irmgard Krisai-Greilhuber.
History.
The journal was originally established in 1903 under the title "Annales Mycoligici" by founding editor Hans Sydow. It was continued as "Annales mycologici, series II" and retitled with the prefix "Sydowia" in Sydow's honour following his death in 1946. "Sydowia" was edited by Franz Petrak from 1947 until his death in 1973. Egon Horak succeeded him until 1989. Orlando Petrini took over from 1989 to 1996 and Liliane Petrini until 2004.
"Sydowia" was published bimonthly from 1947 and biannually since 1992. Now published in English, earlier volumes included papers in English, French, German, Italian, Latin, and Spanish.
Volumes since 2012 are available online. Volumes 1 to 30 are freely available online.
Abstracting and indexing.
The journal is abstracted and indexed in:
According to the "Journal Citation Reports", the journal has a 2013 impact factor of 0.213.


Benign lichenoid keratosis


Morbidity and mortality conference

Morbidity and mortality (M&M) conferences are traditional, recurring conferences held by medical services at academic medical centers, most large private medical and surgical practices, and other medical centers. Their use in psychiatric medicine is less evident. Death, deterioration and complications may be unavoidable in some patients due to underlying disease processes. However they may also be associated with errors or omissions in patient care. M&M conferences involve the analysis of adverse outcomes in patient care, through peer review. The objectives of a well-run M&M conference are to identify adverse outcomes associated with medical error, to modify behavior and judgment based on previous experiences, and to prevent repetition of errors leading to complications. Conferences are non-punitive and focus on the goal of improved patient care. The proceedings are generally kept confidential by law. M&M conferences occur with regular frequency, often weekly, biweekly or monthly, and highlight recent cases and identify areas of improvement for clinicians involved in the case. They are particularly important for identifying systems issues (e.g., outdated policies, changes in patient identification procedures, arithmetic errors, etc.) which affect patient care.
The results of a survey that endeavored to study the relevance and traits of morbidity and mortality conferences (M&MCs) in the spring of 1998 indicate that 90% of U.S. internal medicine training programs hold M&MCs. The majority of these conferences occur on a monthly basis, where an assigned leader reviews certain select cases that had unpredicted consequences or a suspected medical error. It was also reported that two-thirds of the hospitals use the M&MCs as a means to fulfill their administrative requirements for quality assurance.
History.
Morbidity and Mortality conferences have long been part of the practice of medicine, having originated in the early 1900s with Ernest Codman at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He lost his staff privileges there after suggesting the evaluating of surgeon competence. Codman's ideas contributed to the standardization of hospital practices — including a case report system that ascribed responsibility for adverse outcomes — by the American College of Surgeons in 1916. As the medical profession evolved, physicians grew accustomed to discussing their errors at mortality conferences, where autopsy findings were presented, and in published case reports. By 1983, the ACGME began requiring that accredited residency programs conduct a weekly review of all complications and deaths.
Methods.
A Mortality Review Task Force reviews and selects cases to be presented at each M&MC conference. Cases selected include all deaths, significant patient injuries, and near-death situations. A core team of senior quality consultants prepares the selected cases for presentation, gathering and reviewing information that may have caused the case. Hospital physicians, residents, and staff are encouraged to attend the MM&I. During the MM&I meetings the leader reminds the participants of MM&I's confidentiality. Resident leaders present the cases and literature relating to the cases. Then the participants discuss and identify issues that may have led to the undesirable outcome. At the end of the conference, the leader reminds the participants of the MM&I's confidentiality once again and evaluates the conference.


Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology

Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology is a quarterly peer-reviewed medical journal covering spatial and spatiotemporal aspects of epidemiology. It was established in 2009 and is published by Elsevier. The editor-in-chief is Andrew Lawson (Medical University of South Carolina).
Abstracting and indexing.
The journal is abstracted and indexed in:


John Minton (artist)

Francis John Minton (25 December 1917 – 20 January 1957) was an English painter, illustrator, stage designer and teacher. After studying in France, he became a teacher in London, and at the same time maintained a consistently large output of works. In addition to landscapes, portraits and other paintings, some of them on an unusually large scale, he built up a reputation as an illustrator of books.
In the mid-1950s, Minton found himself out of sympathy with the abstract trend that was then becoming fashionable, and felt increasingly sidelined. He suffered psychological problems, self-medicated with alcohol, and in 1957 died by suicide.
Life and career.
Early years.
Minton was born in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire, the second of three sons of Francis Minton, a solicitor, and his wife, Kate, "née" Webb. From 1925 to 1932, he was educated at Northcliff House, Bognor Regis, Sussex, and then from 1932 to 1935 at Reading School. He studied art at St John's Wood School of Art from 1935 to 1938. and was greatly influenced by his fellow student Michael Ayrton, who enthused him with the work of French neo-romantic painters. He spent eight months studying in France, frequently accompanied by Ayrton, and returned from Paris when the Second World War began.
In October 1939 Minton registered as a conscientious objector, but in 1941 changed his views and joined the Pioneer Corps. He was commissioned in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in 1943, but was discharged on medical grounds in the same year. While in the army, Minton, with Ayrton, designed the costumes and scenery for John Gielgud's 1942 production of "Macbeth". The settings moved the piece from the 11th century to "the age of illuminated missals"; "The Manchester Guardian" wrote that they "should be long remembered". In the same year he and Ayrton held a joint exhibition at the Leicester Galleries in London. "The Times" wrote, "Mr. Minton is seen to have an overcast, gloomy realism, and much intensity of feeling, which he expresses in dark colour schemes, both in a curious and effective self-portrait and in paintings of streets and bombed buildings." Minton's early penchant for dark colour schemes can be seen in his 1939 "Landscape at Les Baux", in the Tate Gallery.
Teacher, painter and illustrator.
From 1943 to 1946 Minton taught illustration at the Camberwell College of Arts, and from 1946 to 1948 he was in charge of drawing and illustration at the Central School of Art and Design. At the same time he continued to draw and paint, sharing a studio for some years with Robert Colquhoun and Robert MacBryde, and later with Keith Vaughan. Reviewing a 1944 exhibition, "The Times" remarked that Minton was clearly in the tradition of Samuel Palmer, something frequently remarked on by later critics. Minton's output was considerable. Between 1945 and 1956 he had seven solo exhibitions at the Lefevre Gallery, notwithstanding his work as tutor to the painting school of the Royal College of Art in 1949, a post that he held until the year before his death. Minton's appearance in this period is shown in a 1952 portrait by Lucian Freud, as well as in self-portraits.
Minton's range was wide. Although he is best remembered as an illustrator, he also worked on a very large scale, with unusually big paintings for the Dome of Discovery at the Festival of Britain and "two vast set-pieces" for the Royal College of Art, and at the Royal Academy a huge painting of the soldiers dicing for the garment of Jesus, described by "The Manchester Guardian" as "one of the most elaborate and serious paintings with a religious theme produced since the war."
He designed textiles and wallpapers; he produced posters for London Transport and Ealing Studios; and he was highly regarded as a portrait painter. He also worked in collage. He painted scenes of Britain, from rural beauty to urban decay, and travelled overseas, producing scenes of the West Indies, Spain and Morocco. "The Times" wrote, "Even when they were ostensibly of Spain and Jamaica, Minton's landscapes looked back to Samuel Palmer for their mood. They were densely patterned and luxuriantly coloured, and it was always the fullness and richness of the scene which attracted his eye and which he painted with such evident enjoyment."
Minton's posthumous fame is principally as an illustrator. Many of his commissions for illustrations came from the publisher John Lehmann. Both men were homosexual, and they were so much in one another's company that some people supposed that they were partners, though the biographer Artemis Cooper thinks it unlikely. For Lehmann, Minton illustrated "A Book of Mediterranean Food" and "French Country Cooking" (the first two books by the food writer Elizabeth David), travel books such as "Time was Away – A Notebook in Corsica", by Alan Ross, and fiction, including "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson. He also produced dustwrappers for many publishers including Michael Joseph, Secker and Warburg and Rupert Hart-Davis.
Although Minton was respected both by the conservative Royal Academy and the modernist London Group, he was out of sympathy with the abstract painting that began to prevail during the 1950s, and he felt increasingly out of touch with current fashion. He suffered extreme mood swings and became dependent on alcohol. He took his own life in 1957 at his London home, taking an overdose of sleeping tablets.
A major exhibition to mark Minton's centenary took place at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester from 1 July to 1 October 2017, co-curated by the Gallery's Director Simon Martin and Minton's biographer Frances Spalding, and is the first exhibition in a museum since the 1994 touring Select Retrospective.
Minton was the subject of the song "The Ghost of Mr. Minton" by London-based pop group Would-Be-Goods on their 2008 album "Eventyr". A quote from Minton, "We're all awash in a sea of blood, and the least we can do is wave to each other" inspired the title of the Van der Graaf Generator album "The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other".
In the "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography's" entry on Minton, Michael Middleton writes:


Acorn Treatment and Housing

Acorn Treatment and Housing, formally known as ADAS (Alcohol and Drug Abstinence Service) is the largest drug and alcohol treatment provider of its type in the North West of England. Its quasi-residential centres operate in Manchester, Stockport, Tameside, Oldham, Rochdale, Morecambe, Hull, Accrington, Clitheroe, Rawtenstall, Nelson and Burnley.
History.
ADAS was formed by Helen Massey Roche with support from a group of GPs in Manchester to provide affordable treatment to people affected by addiction. Its projects were taken funded through the National Lottery.
ADAS formed a day care centre in a shop in Stockport in 1997 and later moved to the larger Oak House. In 2003, it opened its first residential rehabilitation programme at Acorn House in Levenshulme.
Operations.
Acorn's treatment model is based on a set of principles which give people affected by addiction a course of action that solves their substance misuse problem. It is intended to replace destructive attitudes such as self-centeredness with selflessness.
Acorn runs the Reduction and Motivation Programme (RAMP) which encourages individuals, through psychosocial intervention, toward reduction and possibly abstinence. The program is administered through Community Drug Team's (CDT), Community Alcohol Team's (CAT) and prisons across the North West.
The Dependency, Emotional, Attachment Programme (DEAP) is another abstinence based treatment Acorn developed which incorporates psychodynamic therapy, Gestalt psychology, Cognitive behavioral therapy and Rational Emotive Therapy in a 12- to 20-week program.
Its STAR programme works to teach clients core skills for entering back into employment which includes a ‘Recovery Coach’ qualification from the Institute of Leadership and Management.
Acorn also runs a housing service for its clients.
Community involvement.
Acorn has created a non-profit video production company BadKamra, which gives its clients work experience, training in media skills and production techniques. It airs a range of podcasts on the firm's website .
Its project Restore provides its clients with employment and training. It restores pieces of furniture and sells gifts and other home accessories. Cafe Serenity provides further job opportunities for its previous clients.


Infundibular cyst


Peartree House

Peartree House is a Grade II listed building in the Peartree Green area of Southampton, England. The oldest part of the property was built for Francis Mylles, M.P. for Winchester, using stone from the Roman settlement at Clausentum. The most notable former resident of the property was Lieutenant-General Henry Shrapnel who invented the weapon named after him. The property is now used as a care home for patients with mental health problems.
History.
Peartree House was built during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, at the end of the 16th century (probably between 1590 and 1600). Its builder and owner was Francis Mylles, M.P. for Winchester from 1588 to 1593; he was also the tenant of Bitterne Manor, owned by the Bishop of Winchester, from whom Mylles obtained consent to use stone from the Roman fort and settlement at Clausentum, close to which Bitterne Manor stands.
Frances Mylles' daughter was married to Captain Richard Smith, who lived in Peartree House in 1617, and who was responsible for the building of nearby Jesus Chapel. Peartree House was occupied by the Mylles family for almost three centuries; the last of the family died in 1780, and it was then passed to members of the Speed and Waring families, who were related to the Mylles. During the early 19th century, the property was extended and the castellated facade was added.
Notable occupiers were Lieutenant-General Henry Shrapnel – inventor of the shell of that name – who died there in 1842; and the Cruickshank family – active in local education matters – who owned the property from 1893 to 1917.
In the 1930s, the land around the house was sold off for development. Southampton Corporation bought the house in 1949, for use as a home for the elderly, adding numerous extensions to the rear. The property is now owned by Fernside Healthcare for use as a care home for patients with mental health problems.
Description.
The main house is a Grade II listed building, having been first listed in September 1954.
The house is a long two-storeyed building with a stucco front and a tiled roof behind a castellated parapet. The main (south-eastern) facade has three sash windows on the first floor in the central section and two in each of the wings. The central part is set back, with a ground floor verandah between the projecting wings; the verandah has five wooden archways with Neo-Tudor heads. The wings have iron balconettes to the first floor windows.
Inside the building there are inglenook fireplaces, most of which are now blocked. There are ancient oak beams in the old kitchen and on the top floor.