Syphilization and Its Discontents: Experimental Inoculation against Syphilis at the London Lock Hospital.

In 1867 James Lane and George Gascoyen, surgeons to the London Lock Hospital, compiled a report on their experiments with a new and controversial treatment. The procedure, known as "syphilization," saw patients be inoculated with infective matter taken from a primary syphilitic ulcer or the artificial sores produced in another patient. Each patient received between 102 and 468 inoculations to determine whether syphilization could cure syphilis and produce immunity against reinfection. This article examines the theory and practice of this experimental treatment. Conducted against the backdrop of the Contagious Diseases Acts, the English syphilization experiments have been largely forgotten. Yet they constitute an important case study of how doctors thought about the etiology and pathology of syphilis, as well as their responsibilities to their patients, at a crucial moment before the advent of the bacteriological revolution.

Physical Activity Participation and Nutrition and Physical Activity Knowledge in University Dance Students.

OBJECTIVE: To assess participation in physical activity and knowledge of general nutrition and current public health messages about the health benefits of physical activity in university dance students, and to investigate differences between first-year and later-year students and between students in dance and dance performance course groups. METHODS: This cross-sectional study recruited 67 participants from dance undergraduate degrees in a university in Australia. Nutrition knowledge was assessed using the General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire. Physical activity participation and awareness of its benefits were assessed using the Active Australia Survey. RESULTS: Results indicate low nutrition knowledge among dance students, with 47% and 52% of responses correct in dance and dance performance students, respectively. Nutrition knowledge did not vary between students in first or later years. Self-reported participation in moderate and vigorous physical activity varied substantially and met or exceeded recommendations based upon duration and frequency for 98% of participants. However, awareness of physical activity messages varied, with dance students more likely to disagree about the level of activity needed for health benefits. CONCLUSIONS: Dance students report varying levels of physical activity that usually met or exceeded recommendations; however, knowledge of general nutrition and physical activity benefits was low. Improved knowledge could contribute to changes in behavior that improve health status in this population.

Venereology at the polyclinic: postgraduate medical education among general practitioners in England, 1899-1914.

In 1899 the British Medical Journal enthusiastically announced that a new postgraduate teaching college was to open in London. The aim of the Medical Graduates' College and Polyclinic (MGC) was to provide continuing education to general practitioners. It drew upon emerging specialisms and in so doing built upon the generalist training received at an undergraduate level. Courses were intended to refresh knowledge and to introduce general practitioners to new knowledge claims and clinical practices. The establishment of postgraduate institutions such as the MGC marked an important stage in the development of medical education in England. Yet these institutions, and the emergence of postgraduate medical education more broadly, have been largely overlooked by historians. Moreover the history of venereological training among medical undergraduates and postgraduates alike has been overlooked. The study of such special subjects characterised postgraduate study. This article examines the dissemination of venereological knowledge among subscribers to MGC as an important case study for the development of institutionalised postgraduate medical education in England at the turn of the twentieth century.

Field and semifield evaluation of impacts of transgenic canola pollen on survival and development of worker honey bees.

A 2-yr field trial (2001 and 2002) and 1-yr semifield trial (2002) were conducted to evaluate the effect of transgenic herbicide (glyphosate) -tolerant canola Brassica napus L. pollen on larval and adult honey bee, Apis mellifera L., workers. In the field trial, colonies of honey bees were moved to transgenic or nontransgenic canola fields (each at least 40 hectares) during bloom and then sampled for larval survival and adult recovery, pupal weight, and hemolymph protein concentrations. No differences in larval survival, adult recovery, and pupal weight were detected between colonies placed in nontransgenic canola fields and those in transgenic canola fields. Colonies placed in the transgenic canola fields in the 2002 field experiment showed significantly higher hemolymph protein in newly emerged bees compared with those placed in nontransgenic canola field; however, this difference was not detected in the 2001 field experiment. In the semifield trial, bee larvae were artificially fed with bee-collected transgenic and nontransgenic canola pollen and returned to their original colonies. Larval survival, pupal survival, pupal weight, and hemolymph protein concentration of newly emerged adults were measured. There were no significant differences in any of the parameters measured between larvae that were fed transgenic canola pollen and those fed nontransgenic corn pollen. Results from this study suggest that transgenic canola pollen does not have adverse effects on honey bee development and that the use of transgenic canola dose not pose any threat to honey bees.