text:
Ronald M. Atlas, Ph.D.
Graduate Dean and Professor of Biology and Public Health Codirector, Center for Deterrence of Biowarfare and Bioterrorism
University of Louisville
Louisville, KY
It is clear that after September 11, 2001, we live in a new era, an era of fear—fear of foreigners who could be terrorists and fear of scientific information that could be misused by terrorists. The consequence is that we in the scientific and academic communities are now subject to new levels of public scrutiny that are manifest in the regulations governing visas for foreign students and visiting scientists and in the security clearance requirements for those with access to microorganisms and toxins (select agents) that are considered high-risk biothreats that might be used by terrorists. As graduate dean at the University of Louisville, dealing with foreign graduate students and visa issues being implemented under a post-9/11 regulatory framework, as a scientist involved in biodefense, and as a past president of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), which has certainly been on the forefront of the debate on the select agent rules and the legislation that was passed after the anthrax attacks of Fall 2001 to reduce the threat of
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Appendix A
Authored Papers
Ronald M. Atlas, Ph.D.
Graduate Dean and Professor of Biology and Public Health Codirector, Center for Deterrence of Biowarfare and Bioterrorism
University of Louisville
Louisville, KY
It is clear that after September 11, 2001, we live in a new era, an era of fear—fear of foreigners who could be terrorists and fear of scientific information that could be misused by terrorists. The consequence is that we in the scientific and academic communities are now subject to new levels of public scrutiny that are manifest in the regulations governing visas for foreign students and visiting scientists and in the security clearance requirements for those with access to microorganisms and toxins (select agents) that are considered high-risk biothreats that might be used by terrorists. As graduate dean at the University of Louisville, dealing with foreign graduate students and visa issues being implemented under a post-9/11 regulatory framework, as a scientist involved in biodefense, and as a past president of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), which has certainly been on the forefront of the debate on the select agent rules and the legislation that was passed after the anthrax attacks of Fall 2001 to reduce the threat of
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bioterrorism, I have found myself balancing divergent norms of science and society and communicating across boundaries of national security, science, policy, and public concerns—trading the world of a laboratory scientist for a bully pulpit before journalists to reach the public, congressional hearing rooms to reach policy makers, and forums like this to reach fellow scientists.
We in the scientific community have an obligation to provide an educational forum that reaches far and wide, within the scientific community about the new legislation and regulations, and about how we need to comply to be good citizens of the world. Additionally, we need to educate the broader public as to the importance of international exchange in the scientific arena so as to ensure that regulations are constructed in ways that permit the advancement of biomedical research. We have a need to explain to the public and policy makers that the best defense against the threat of bioterrorism is to advance the research agenda against infectious diseases so that we have the vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics needed to combat emerging and reemerging infectious diseases as well as "plagues" that may be introduced by terrorists. We need to make clear that biomedical research is an international endeavor and that the battle against infectious diseases must be global. We also have an obligation to engage in a dialog with the national security community so that we understand the threats and vulnerabilities of our new world and can engage in activities—some of which will involve constraint and adherence to the new regulatory mandates—that will reduce the threat of the misuse of the life sciences by terrorists.
When the USA Patriot Act was first proposed, it would have banned all foreigners from entering a U.S. laboratory where a select agent was present. The ASM explained to the Congress that biomedical research is international in nature. We brought a clear message to the debate: infectious disease is a global health issue that requires international exchange and cooperation. Half of the manuscripts submitted to ASM journals come from outside the United States. If we curtail international collaborations, then we put the health of this and other nations at risk. If we cannot combat infectious diseases regardless of where they occur in the world, we put U.S. national security at risk as well. The Congress listened. When the Patriot Act was passed, such proposed global restrictions on foreigners were removed.
Having said that, we in the scientific community also made compromises concerning who could have access to select agents and the regulatory system overseeing possession of those agents. In my view, the compromises were critical for demonstrating that the scientific community was responsive to public concerns about bioterrorism and for achieving public support for biomedical research needed to advance biodefense capabilities.
I recognize that some people would accuse me of having entered into a Faustian deal for having agreed that we should restrict certain individuals
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from having access to select agents within U.S. laboratories, namely, aliens from countries that the United States designates as supporting terrorism and those individuals who are not permitted to purchase handguns. When the ASM looked at the impact of restricting individuals from the few nations that are designated by the United States as supporting terrorism, and only restricting them in the laboratories where a limited number of select agents were present, we found that there were very few scientists and very few exchanges that were being affected in the United States. We agreed to accept that provision, which became a restriction in the Patriot Act and which was subsequently incorporated into the Biopreparedness Act, and thus, into the regulatory scheme of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Agriculture oversight of select agents.
George Poste, who has been very outspoken about the hubris of the scientific community placing the United States in danger by not fully recognizing the potential for misuse of science, had made the claim that the Patriot Act and the implementation of the select agent rule are major impediments to industry that is multinational, and that the biotech industry would not fare well under the Patriot Act. The restriction imposed by the Patriot Act and subsequently incorporated into the Biopreparedness Act stated that individuals from nations that support terrorism may not have access to select agents in U.S. laboratories. Thus, it should have minimal impact on multinational corporations. It is true that implementation of the select agent rules involves a site-specific registration and clearance process. An individual cleared to work with certain agents in one laboratory who goes to work in another laboratory requires a new clearance. Additionally, the owners of each private laboratory in possession of select agents must be cleared. Potentially that can impact the ability to collaborate and to move personnel from laboratory to laboratory. We are still in the early phases of implementing the new select agent possession regulations and need to wait and watch carefully for real impacts. If we detect negative impacts, then we need to bring them to the attention of the relevant departments and agencies and insist that they be responsive. We also need to recognize that we have new responsibilities in the era of terrorism. Unfortunately, the days of a graduate student working alone in a laboratory with dangerous pathogens in the middle of the night are probably gone. But maybe this is for the good of all, as appropriate biosecurity measures should enhance biosafety.
Perhaps the greatest challenge for the scientific community will be developing a working relationship with the national security and law enforcement communities. The Biopreparedness Act requires that the Department of Justice clear individuals who have access to select agents. This responsibility has been given to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This is a new system, and there is legitimate concern over how it will work. Can it provide appropriate security oversight without interfering with the
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legitimate pursuit of science, especially as the magnitude of biodefense research increases exponentially? At this point, we do not have any data that suggest that the system is not going to work—but there is considerable concern.
Beyond the regulations and clearances imposed by the Biopreparedness Act, there is concern that some government laboratories, for example, Department of Defense laboratories, Department of Agriculture laboratories, and potentially other laboratories within the Department of Health and Human Services, will further restrict foreign nationals from entering those laboratories. The select agent regulations do not provide for such broad restrictions of international scientists. While there may be some areas where classified research is conducted and where restricted access for foreign nationals may be appropriate, it is important for the scientific and biomedical communities to highlight the value of international scientific exchanges for global health and national security.
Turning to the issue of visas for students and visiting scientists, the implementation of new regulations aimed at reducing the risk of terrorism is raising concerns in the academic and scientific communities. Resources are needed to ensure appropriate implementation of the new tracking and interview systems. Within the academic and scientific communities, we need to gather systemic data to document problems. The major educational organizations, including the American Association of Universities and the Council of Graduate Schools, requested that the requirement for interviews to obtain visas be implemented only if there were sufficient resources to prevent undue delays that would interrupt the flow of foreign students into the United States. The State Department promised to be responsive and quickly instructed the consular services to give preference to students for interviews so that educational exchanges are not inhibited.
The ASM asked the State Department to develop procedures and allocate resources necessary to assure prompt and appropriate action on visa requests for students and researchers seeking to study within the United States. The ASM pointed out that educational exchanges and training of students, researchers, and clinicians in microbiology and other scientific disciplines from countries around the world are critical for the advancement of biomedical science and public health. If we limit our ability to exchange scientific information and train scientists, then we will severely limit our ability to fight infectious diseases—and infectious diseases do not respect any political borders. The ASM therefore urged the State Department to eliminate the adverse impact of visa policies on the continued education and training of foreign students in the United States. Given that the ASM has supported appropriate measures to reduce the risk of terrorism, it did not urge laxness in processing visas. Rather, the ASM urged that screening processes be undertaken with a minimum of disruption of educational and
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research endeavors, urging observance of the following principles in designing and implementing screening procedures:
Screening procedures must be developed, planned, and implemented in a manner and on a schedule that ensures that interviews or other processes do not interfere with legitimate scientific training.
The United States must devote the necessary resources to ensure that prudent procedures do not fail as a result of a lack of adequately trained personnel to implement the procedures in a timely manner.
Microbiology and other sciences must not be singled out as an area of concern or in a manner that admission of students for science education and training is impeded.
In light of inevitable limitations upon resources, procedures must be developed that expedite, on the basis of objective criteria, the processing of visas least likely to pose a threat so the overall system permits the timely admission of all qualified individuals legitimately interested in advancing their education or advisory role to U.S. governmental agencies.
The process for reentry of trainees who have been granted visas for training in the United States should be simplified, eliminating the requirement for reentry interviews for students who have been out of the United States only for a brief period.
In response, the State Department reiterated its commitment to protect international exchanges of students and researchers.
Thus, in many ways we are at a critical crossroads. We face a new regulatory environment—one crafted out of fear of terrorism. We face a critical need to advance biomedical science to combat the threat of bioterrorism as well as the emergence and reemergence of deadly infectious diseases. We must find the right balance between openness and security—between restrictions and free exchange impacting foreign students, visiting scientists, and international collaboration. This will require continuing dialogue among the scientific community, the national security community, policy makers, and the public. We must be ready to confront the challenges of infectious diseases in this new era of regulatory oversight of research and educational exchange.
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Scott J. Becker, M.S.
Association of Public Health Laboratories
Washington, D.C.
Public health laboratories play a lead role in the detection and response to infectious disease. That role cannot be performed without a sound laboratory infrastructure—including highly trained staff and linkages with private-sector laboratorians—that must be in place well in advance of a crisis. However, an ongoing shortage of skilled laboratorians compromises the nation's laboratory system and reduces our vigilance for infectious microbes. To remedy this situation and avert the consequences of more dire workforce deficiencies, public and private employers, trade groups, and relevant government agencies must find new ways to attract and retain the nation's next generation of laboratory technicians and scientists.
Public Health Laboratories and Microbial Threats to Health
As vividly demonstrated by efforts to contain West Nile virus in 1999, anthrax in 2001, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in winter 2003, public health laboratories play a crucial role in identifying and analyzing infectious organisms in support of public health disease investigations. Infectious disease testing is, in fact, one of the core functions of public health laboratories and encompasses a range of vital activities (CDC, 2002). These activities include:
Isolating and identifying causative agents—including emerging or reemerging pathogens—that are present in clinical specimens (e.g., blood, urine, saliva) or in unusual specimen matrices such as food and environmental samples.
Determining the source of infections by identifying human carriers and environmental sources of disease.
Providing specialized tests for low-incidence, high-risk diseases, such as tuberculosis (TB), rabies, botulism, and plague.
Confirming atypical laboratory test results and providing reference diagnostic testing to private-sector laboratories that may not have the ability to fully identify disease agents of public health significance.
In addition to hands-on testing to characterize infectious agents, public health laboratories perform a number of services to support and improve
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testing programs and to manage laboratory data for effective disease surveillance (CDC, 2002). These services include:
Conducting research to develop and validate diagnostic tests for emerging infectious diseases and to improve existing infectious disease tests (for example, by developing rapid test methods).
Providing advice to private-sector laboratories regarding newly marketed tests.
Developing and overseeing quality assurance programs for private clinical laboratories through training, consultation, certification, and proficiency testing to assure the reliability of laboratory data used for communicable disease control.
Ensuring the ability to accumulate, synthesize, and communicate test results and other laboratory information essential for public health analysis and decision-making.
Providing a statewide disease reporting network.
Participating in national database systems for surveillance of diseases of national and global concern.
State public health laboratories are the critical link between the nation's many private-sector clinical laboratories—which, by virtue of their primary diagnostic function, are often the first to report unusual laboratory results—and the public health establishment. They maintain strong ties with national laboratories at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other federal agencies, and with state health officers, state epidemiologists, and directors of state programs in sexually transmitted disease, tuberculosis control, maternal and child health, and environmental health.
It is easy to recognize that infectious disease outbreak investigations and disease prevention and control efforts depend on sound and timely laboratory data. It is similarly clear that all of these activities will be adversely affected by deficiencies in either public health laboratory capabilities (specific services performed) or capacity (volume of services that can be performed within a defined time period). Workforce limitations affect both.
Public Health Laboratory Workforce Shortage
The current shortage of skilled public health laboratorians is not a sudden phenomenon. Rather, it has been ongoing for some years. Public health laboratories, like other parts of the public health system, have suffered chronic underfunding. An October 2000 report concludes that long-term reductions in public health laboratory staffing and training have impaired the ability of state and local authorities to identify biological agents
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(Smithson and Levy, 2000). More recently, a 2002 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report refers to the nation's "antiquated laboratory capacity" that leaves Americans vulnerable to exotic infectious organisms as well as more mundane microbes (Committee on Assuring the Health of the Public in the 21st Century, 2003).
Unpublished data from a "straw poll" conducted in spring 2003 by the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) show an average vacancy rate for state laboratory testing personnel of 8.6 percent. These data are comparable to data from the American Society of Clinical Pathologists' (ASCP) 2002 wage and vacancy survey, which found that the average vacancy rate for staff-level medical technologists ranged from 6 to 10.2 percent, depending on geographic region (Ward-Cook et al., 2003). But some states greatly exceed the average. Tennessee is one. The state public health laboratory has been struggling since late 2001 to fill fully a third of its clinical microbiology positions (personal communication, J. Gibson, Director of Microbiology Laboratory, Laboratory Services, Tennessee Department of Health, August 11, 2003).
However, although these figures represent significant understaffing, they may be deceptively low. The number of staff positions authorized by states generally does not keep pace with the laboratory workload. That is, any vacancies likely represent a true reduction in laboratory capacity. In Kentucky, for example, the state laboratory is recruiting for two positions in 2003, including the laboratory director's post, which had been vacant since December 2002. However, the state completely eliminated ten laboratory positions due to budget constraints, and these positions do not get counted as vacancies (Isaacs, 2003). There also is evidence that public health laboratories and other employers have increased the use of temporary staff and broadened the selection criteria for permanent positions, thereby filling vacancies with less qualified individuals (a medical laboratory technician in place of a medical technologist, for example) (ASCP, 2003).
The lack of adequate laboratory capacity was driven home during the bioterrorism incident that occurred in fall 2001, when many public health laboratories required overtime hours and halted much routine work because key personnel were diverted to testing for B. anthracis or to related support activities, such as sample log-in and screening. The Connecticut state lab brought in a team of volunteer microbiologists and the New York City lab arranged to borrow staff from the city's private clinical labs to augment beleaguered public health laboratory workers (APHL, 2002; APHL, 2003a). Even the relatively mild SARS outbreak in the United States in winter 2003 strained laboratory capacity (APHL, 2003b). If two moderate infectious disease outbreaks were to coincide, the nation's public health laboratories would be overwhelmed.
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Where Have All the Lab Workers Gone?
The growing shortage of laboratory workers stems from three root causes: the ongoing retirement of a significant cohort of senior staff, including laboratory leaders; government hiring practices; and a shrinking pool of future laboratory professionals that impacts both the public and private infectious disease workforce. In many cases, public health laboratories are losing their most skilled personnel before they have a chance to recruit and train replacements. One northeastern state saw 20 percent of its laboratory staff—19 individuals—retire in June 2003. Ohio's state laboratory director writes in Focus magazine, "What laboratory can replace the knowledge (and value) that a senior technologist with 29 years experience immersed in molds and fungi brings with them to work every day? How about trying to replace your senior chemists, bacteriologists, virologists, or immunologists?" (Becker, 2003).
Of particular concern, an APHL study anticipates an average of 13 vacancies in state public health laboratory director positions by 2006, with a candidate pool that more than two-thirds of current directors describe as either "not adequate" or "only marginally adequate" in size to meet future needs (Schoenfeld et al., 2002). In addition to scientific and technical expertise, public health laboratory directors must have management, public policy, and communication skills, making this position especially difficult to fill, but also especially important, since it is the directors who provide leadership in times of crisis and who advocate for the needs of the laboratories.
From one vantage point, the public health laboratory workforce shortage can be seen as part of an overall shortage of state government employees—one that is likely to get worse. According to a 2002 report by the Council of State Governments (CSG) and the National Association of State Personnel Executives (NASPE), both the pending retirement of current state employees (whose average age is 44.5 years) and mandatory state hiring freezes or other hiring limitations (in effect in 27 states) contribute to the declining number of state workers (Carroll and Moss, 2002). On average, the current vacancy rate of state government positions is just over 11 percent, but more than half of states report vacancy rates above the national average, including Alaska at 21.6 percent. The CSG/NASPE report predicts that state governments could lose more than 30 percent of their workforce by 2006 due to the twin problems of an aging workforce and continuing state budget shortfalls (Carroll and Moss, 2002).
From a second vantage point, the public health laboratory workforce shortage can be seen as part of a serious labor problem plaguing public health and private clinical laboratories throughout the nation. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that 122,000 new medical technologists and medical laboratory technicians will be needed between 2000 and
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2010—or roughly 12,200 new clinical laboratorians each year—to replace retiring workers and meet the rising demand for laboratory tests (Hecker, 2001). Yet in recent years, on average fewer than 5,000 individuals have graduated from accredited training programs annually (U.S. Department of Labor, 2002; Painter, 2000). In 1999, the ASCP certified fewer medical technologists than it did in 1959 (2,216 and 2,349, respectively) (Painter, 2000).
A drop in the number of students interested in laboratory science has led to the closure of hundreds of training programs approved by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS), a fact that does not bode well for the future. There were about 1,000 NAACLS-approved programs in 1970, compared to about 500 today (Painter, 2000; NAACLS, 2003). California, the most populous state, had only eight clinical laboratory science programs in the 2003–2004 academic year, with a combined class capacity of just 89 students (AMA, 2003). And not all programs are necessarily filled to capacity. Lack of knowledge about professional laboratory careers (a byproduct of low recognition for current workers) and higher-paying job options in the science and allied health fields are the chief reasons cited for declining enrollments (Beckering and Brunner, 2003; CHP 2001).
In fact, public health laboratories are suffering from the combined effects of government workforce problems and adverse trends within the field of laboratory science.
Recruitment Issues
Recruiting laboratory scientists for any position is difficult in the current job market since qualified workers are scarce. But there are additional challenges. The field of laboratory science is evolving much more rapidly than ever before, and new entrants to the field must be prepared to constantly update their skills. Yet, despite the degree of technical expertise required, laboratorians receive little recognition for work that is largely unseen by the public. Moreover, many laboratory positions are in rural areas and inner cities—locations that tend to be less desirable. Potential public health laboratory recruits also face government hiring constraints, limited career mobility, and generally lower salaries and greater on-the-job learning curves than in the private sector.
The 2001 terror attacks and recent SARS outbreak afforded laboratorians some measure of public appreciation for their work, but also raised fears of extraordinary biosafety risks for all infectious disease laboratorians. In addition, the terror attacks spawned new federal legislation that complicates the hiring process for some laboratories, including all state public health laboratories and many university-based research facilities.
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Challenges to recruitment include:
Rapidly Changing Technology
Ten years ago, infectious disease laboratorians were expected to be proficient in classic methodologies to identify infectious organisms: microscopy, culture techniques, and serology. Those methods are still used. But today they exist alongside an ever-changing and increasingly complex set of newer methods that staff members in more advanced laboratories must know or be prepared to learn quickly: commercial nucleic acid amplification tests (used for tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases), conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR), real-time PCR (used for emerging infectious diseases and agents of bioterrorism), pulse field gel electrophoresis (a molecular "fingerprinting" technique used for outbreak investigations), and the latest methods—spoligotyping and variable number tandem repeat analysis. In addition to mastering these techniques, laboratorians must also possess above-average computer software skills to track specimens, analyze data, and communicate test results to relevant parties (e.g., specimen submitters, state health officials, national disease databases).
Unique Public Health Skill Sets
In order to work in a public health setting, a laboratory scientist must have an added skill set above and beyond the technical expertise described above. The average university-trained molecular microbiologist, for example, lacks a working knowledge of infectious disease outbreak management, quality control practices, the principles of population-based disease surveillance, Biosafety Level 3 work practices, and the role of the state epidemiologist and other state and national health officials with whom the laboratory must interface on a regular basis.
Ultimately, to work well within a public health laboratory, technical staff must understand the public health relevance of clinical testing. Whereas a private-sector laboratorian will test a sputum sample to determine whether a specific patient is positive for tuberculosis, public health laboratorians will sometimes process the same sample, but to other ends. The public health scientist wants to identify the exact strain of TB infecting the patient and to compare it to TB isolates from other individuals. Is the same strain responsible for multiple TB cases within the state? Do current cases represent the leading edge of a larger infectious disease outbreak? The public health laboratorian may also conduct susceptibility testing to gauge the pathogen's resistance to a host of antimicrobial agents and work with epidemiologists to forward this information to infection control practitioners and clinical laboratories throughout the state.
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Malaria and dengue remain as major health burdens and as obstacles to economic development throughout much of the world's tropics, while Lyme disease and West Nile fever continue to emerge in many temperate regions. The growing level of annoyance caused by many diverse insects and ticks, of course, adds to the need for effective entomological interventions. The research activities that are appropriate for dealing with these problems focus primarily on vector ecology, but they also include epidemiology and population genetics, as well as aspects of insect physiology. Vector transgenics may, in the future, provide useful modalities. The research interests of the faculty serving in U.S. universities largely determine the characteristics of our scientific workforce, and the discussion that follows is designed to identify the forces that influence hiring practices for faculty engaged in public health entomology.
Source of U.S. Research Funding
In teaching institutions in the United States, health-related positions for junior faculty are allocated largely on the basis of external funding. Such "soft" funding less critically defines faculty profiles in universities whose appointees receive their salaries from the various states. During the second half of the 20th century, therefore, the administrations of schools of public health and of medicine increasingly designed their faculties around the "investigator-initiated" system of research grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health, and the "RO1" system of grants served largely as the engine of faculty growth. Today, job descriptions continue to be composed mainly around this perception. Before 1982, proposals relating to vector-associated disease were reviewed by the members of the Tropical Medicine and Parasitology Study Section of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID). The entire gamut of relevant disciplines was considered by this group of experts in entomology, microbiology, vaccinology, and other disciplines.
Developments Following the Woods Hole Conference of 1978
Entomological review was separated from the regular TMP Study Section in 1982, in the wake of the development of the first hormonomimetic insecticides and the landmark meeting of this committee in 1978 in Woods Hole, MA. The meeting was inspired by the research accomplishments of the noted insect physiologist Carroll Williams, who spoke of the "third
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generation of insecticides" that was then being developed. The sense of this meeting held that although funding for insect physiology had previously derived largely from the National Science Foundation, any research effort pertaining to the physiology of insects should now be considered relevant to tropical medicine or parasitology. The NIAID accepted this recommendation and agreed to consider such proposals. Many proposals subsequently were submitted, and they were reviewed by the TMP Study Section as a whole. Some of the proposals in insect physiology were funded, and this encouraged additional submissions, which, in turn, required the assignment of reviewers who specialized in insect physiology. Within 4 years, so many basic physiological proposals were submitted that a new ad hoc committee was formed to evaluate all proposals requiring entomological attention. Epidemiological and parasitological applications of entomology, as well as certain arbovirological proposals, were thereupon separated from the health-related sciences and placed in a context that included basic insect physiology. The composition of this standing committee thereafter evolved to match the proposals that were submitted, a situation that would necessarily tend to favor subjects familiar to the members of the committee.
By 1994, the effect of this separation of entomology from health was such that the community of public health entomologists in the United States became alarmed. Led by George Craig, the various societies that were most directly concerned with tropical health addressed resolutions to the NIH director, requesting corrective action. These societies included the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the Entomological Society of America, the Society of Vector Ecology, and the American Mosquito Control Association. The societies pointed out that 93 percent of the 56 grants in vector biology that were funded in 1993 dealt with fundamental insect physiology or molecular genetics, and that their principle investigators mainly were associated with experimental research rather than with tropical medicine or medical entomology. Within a decade after this ad hoc study section became a separate unit, virtually all NIAID-funded work on vector-associated disease would then have been conducted entirely at the bench. No analysis of previous funding patterns was provided.
Developments Following the Keystone Conference of 1998
American scientists concerned with vector-associated infections began to employ molecular techniques during the late 1980s; the first symposium on that subject was held at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 1986. It examined the idea that the pathogen competence of a vector population might be reduced by releasing transposon-favored, transgenically incompetent mosquitoes. None of the speakers were, themselves, engaged in work on vector arthropods. That
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situation soon changed. Numerous vector-related projects soon focused largely on molecular genetics. Indeed, 22 of the 53 titles that comprised the 1998 Keystone Symposium on transgenesis, titled "Toward the Genetic Manipulation of Insects," dealt with mosquitoes or kissing bugs (James et al., 1998). The expertise of three of the five conference organizers derived largely from their research accomplishments with mosquitoes. This influential symposium was the second in a continuing series of such events that were funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and attended by members of various granting agencies. The sequencing of the genomes of Plasmodium falciparum (Gardner et al., 2002) and Anopheles gambiae (Holt et al., 2002) and the ongoing NIAID-funded effort to sequence that of Aedes aegypti have greatly facilitated such work. The creation of an insect that might be released in nature and that would transmit particular useful genes to a disproportionate fraction of its offspring became the goal of many research efforts.
The self-generating dynamic that followed the acceptance of insect physiology by the TMP Study Section in 1978 operated once again in 1998. The many proposals relating to molecular genetics that were submitted to the ad hoc medical entomology panel, soon designated as an "Ad Hoc Special Emphasis Panel," required appropriate reviewers' expertise. Members of a review panel would naturally tend to favor proposals in their own discipline. Such a shift in membership encouraged the submission of more proposals of this nature, and the more molecular proposals that were submitted and funded, the more the membership shifted. In a session held in 2002, for example, 17 of the 20 members were themselves engaged exclusively in experimental research performed in the laboratory. This process accelerated into 2003 when the Ad Hoc Special Emphasis Panel was divided, much as the original Tropical Medicine and Parasitology Study Section was divided in 1982. All entomological proposals that included a field component were thereupon removed to an epidemiological study section, then operating within the NIAID.
Sources of Research Funding
The NIAID program of investigator-initiated grants in tropical medicine and parasitology was augmented in 1980 by a system of tropical disease research units that originally was designed to support overseas work on the five parasitoses selected by the World Health Organization (WHO) and expanded in 1995. These "program grants" include several discrete "projects," and they generally are based in a tropical site. Although few in number, these university-based programs continue to provide first-rate employment and training opportunities for people engaged in research on vector-borne infections.
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Supplemental funding opportunities have been provided since 1982 by the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR), which is designed to encourage small U.S. businesses to develop innovative products in conjunction with the academic scientific community. Various governmental agencies contributed more than $1 billion during 2002 to this program. A complementary program, known as the Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR), expanded support for these academic–entrepreneurial links, and contributed nearly $100 million more during 2002. Although health expenditures would have comprised only a fraction of these totals, the financial incentives would be considerable. Except for efforts devoted to bioterrorism, it seems unlikely that these programs would be sufficiently reliable to serve as stimuli for the creation of academic appointments.
The NIH's system of training grants has long provided crucial support to many generations of students interested in vector-associated disease. The NIAID program is designated mainly for U.S. nationals, and the program conducted by the Fogarty International Institute is mainly for foreign scientists. Although both programs support students, neither provides faculty salaries. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently initiated a system of training grant awards in public health entomology, and it now awards research contracts in response to particular emerging infections. These training programs and occasional research efforts do little to stimulate faculty hiring.
The United States military was an important source of extramural funding for research in vector-associated disease during the 1970s. The military-funded, investigator-initiated proposals, much as those considered under NIH's RO1 system, supplied funds according to the opinions of an Ad Hoc Study Group on Medical Entomology of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. This panel operated in the pattern of an NIH study section. That program, however, was too small to influence staffing patterns in the U.S. university system, and it ended during the middle 1980s. Particular projects on such vector-borne "select agents" as those responsible for tularemia and eastern equine encephalitis have been funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. But this source of funding, too, is small and potentially short-lived and may not influence university hiring practices. The various Naval Medical Research Units also maintain overseas laboratories that conduct research projects devoted to vector-borne infection. Grants from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration support faculty engaged in research on the distribution of these infections.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) became a major granting agency in 1963, in the wake of the failure of the worldwide effort to eradicate malaria. Although malariological research was discouraged during the eradication effort, 5 percent of all operational funds were designated for research after the effort was abandoned. An audit of the
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program, conducted in 1983, described a $125 million general research fund that had been awarded since 1963 (GAO, 1982). Of this, the $26.5 million that had been spent was devoted mainly to academic research on drug and vaccine development. Robert Desowitz's book Malaria Capers (1993), however, described the sadly disappointing nature of this research effort. USAID's subsequent program of "environmental impact evaluation" provided opportunity for numerous university faculty to gain important experience in the epidemiology of infectious disease, but provided little salary support. Such "nonacademic" units as Harvard University's Institute for International Development once devoted important resources to the central administration of that institution, but generated few new teaching faculty. The personnel were recently transferred to Boston University. The National Science Foundation also awards relevant funds. Although certain of the non-health-related U.S. governmental agencies provide some support for university faculty, their impact on university hiring practices seems slight.
Funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) largely shape the faculties of U.S. land-grant institutions. Faculty at these state universities draw their salaries as a line item in each state's budget, and many of them also acquire research funding from federal "Hatch" funds. Until recently, these universities produced many of the medical entomologists employed by public health agencies and universities. The entomological orientation of the land-grant programs has been uniquely strong, and the departments of entomology in the United States tend to be located in such institutions. This element of financial permanence largely insulates the faculties of land-grant colleges from peer-generated pressures on their faculty profiles. Although NIAID funding supplements their basic agriculture-oriented sources, the faculty profiles of the land-grant schools tend to respond less directly to public health requirements than do those of schools of medicine or of public health.
Various foundations have long played an important part in funding research efforts relevant to vector-borne infection. The Rockefeller Foundation, of course, contributed much fundamental knowledge during the early part of the 20th century. The MacArthur Foundation's program has focused narrowly on molecular biology, as has the program of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has entered this field of endeavor with a system of unusually large donations. A multimillion-dollar gift to the London School of Tropical Medicine has permitted that institution to transform its malaria activities with a multifaceted program of research. An even larger gift to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, from another anonymous source, permitted that school to expand its malaria program. New faculty members appear to have been recruited in response to both of these gifts. The Gates Foundation has
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recently requested suggestions for a grand malariological challenge, and we await the result. This effort, too, seems likely to increase the number of scientists engaged in research on vector-borne infection. Although foundation support now tends to be directed toward narrow "cutting-edge" goals, such funds have been sufficiently generous and sustained since the early 1990s to influence faculty hiring patterns.
Antimalaria interventions recommended by the Roll Back Malaria program of the WHO and its partner agencies seek to halve the burden of malaria during the first decade of the millennium, and to halve it once again by 2015, by "scaling up" the application of these techniques. Only limited operational research is conducted, and progress has not yet been reported. The United Nations recently launched a Millennium Development Goals program for reducing poverty in the developing world, and one component of this program is concerned with developing antimalaria strategies. The role of research in this developing strategic formulation is yet to be defined.
Changes in Vector-Related Activities in U.S. Universities
A comprehensive review of the status of training and research in public health entomology was conducted in 1982 as part of the Coolfont Symposium, which was organized by the National Research Council and included participants from various universities, diverse laboratories, the military, federal and multilateral granting agencies, and various foundations. Questionnaires were submitted to 28 schools of medicine, schools of public health, departments of biology, and departments of entomology that were identified as potential sources of training in disciplines that pertained to the transmission of vector-associated disease. The 24 institutions that responded listed 63 relevant faculty, and about half of the respondents had only 1 faculty member. Of those responding, 17 had teaching programs that included some field-related component; but only 7 had overseas components.
Characteristics of the different programs that were identified are instructive. Because faculty in the seven land-grant institutions draw their salaries from their state coffers, they tend to design their research and teaching programs around local needs. The training programs of these institutions focused on the biology of the vectors themselves, and none included course work in epidemiology or pathogenesis. A few programs included virological components. Conversely, the seven health-oriented institutions emphasized course work pertinent to the burden of human disease while downplaying entomological subjects. The salaries of these health-related faculty were then, as now, notoriously soft, deriving mainly from external sources, a fact that induces the faculty to cast a broad net in their search for grant support. Overseas activities play a large part in their endeavors. The three responding departments of biology were housed in pri-
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vate institutions. Their programs and research orientation differed. One department, at Notre Dame University, trained a large fraction of the medical entomologists of the time and focused on the biology and genetics of mosquitoes. Some seven doctoral-level vector biologists had been graduating from these diverse U.S. institutions each year. In general, the respondents suggested that the growth of their programs was less dynamic than in the recent past.
A smaller but comparable survey of U.S. training opportunities in public health entomology was conducted in 2002 by Walter Tabachnick at the request of the American Mosquito Control Association (personal communication). He found that 12 universities had active doctoral-level programs in the subject and that they employed 33 relevant faculty. These instructors had been producing some nine doctoral graduates in vector biology per year since 1998. A simple comparison of the Coolfont and Tabachnick surveys suggests that nearly half of the relevant programs may have been discontinued during the past 2 decades, and that the extant programs employed only half as many faculty as in 1982. Surprisingly, no diminution in doctoral graduates was evident.
Transgenesis came to dominate vector-oriented studies beginning in 1993, when a series of notable research findings was published (Aldhous, 1993). As practiced, these research efforts generally include no field component. The Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (jointly supported by the United Nations and several other international organizations), the MacArthur Foundation, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, modified their funding policies in 1993 such that future grants in this discipline would be devoted to attempts to create transgenic vector insects. Although the public health usefulness of such a mosquito was then controversial (Spielman, 1994) and still remains in doubt, an aura of excitement has increasingly come to surround vector transgenesis. The proportion of the faculty that Tabachnick surveyed who were engaged in this narrowly focused aspect of the study of vector-associated disease may be quite large. In general, then, fewer university faculty in the United States appear to be prepared to investigate the transmission of vector-borne pathogens than in the recent past. The magnitude of the investment in research in vector transgenics will affect this trend.
A panel recently convened by the Institute of Medicine recognized that the United States now lacks the capacity to confront the health threats posed by vector-borne pathogens (Institute of Medicine, 2003). The panel concluded that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Defense (DOD), the National Institutes of Health, and the
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Department of Agriculture "should work with academia, private organizations, and foundations to support efforts at rebuilding the human resource capacity at both academic centers and public health agencies in the relevant sciences—such as medical entomology, vector and reservoir biology, vector and reservoir ecology, and zoonoses—necessary to control vector-borne and zoonotic diseases."
These diverse federal agencies differ in their faculty-enhancing policies. In the past, only the NIH had sufficient resources and a commitment to investigator-initiated research to affect staffing decisions at health-related and private U.S. institutions. The influence of the USDA mainly affects land-grant institutions, and staffing decisions there respond largely to the interests of their respective state legislatures. The departments of entomology in these institutions, therefore, tend to be shaped by local interests. Funding by the CDC and the DOD has been much lower than that of the NIH, and their funds have been directed toward narrowly defined goals that have changed as the perceived need has changed. The National Science Foundation, which was not included in the IOM recommendation, at least until recently, has tended to fund basic rather than health-related research. The CDC, the DOD, and the USDA employ vector-related health scientists, but without stimulating the faculty appointments that result in their production. Therefore, the human resource capacity at U.S. universities that might be capable of dealing with vector-related issues in health would depend largely on the system of generous investigator-initiated research that resides at the NIH.
The IOM recommendation cited above omits reference to the contribution of private foundations to the human resource capacity of U.S. academe. The Gates Foundation and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund seem likely to play an important role in this dynamic. The funding policies that they pursue in the immediate future may encourage faculty to engage in insect transgenesis, insect physiology, or research relating to transmission of pathogens.
Changes in the NIH system of proposal review may impose novel constraints on health-related research on vectors conducted by the faculty of U.S. universities in the immediate future. Investigator-initiated proposals might be evaluated at the NIH in an epidemiological context in place of the biological milieu that pertained in the recent past, and the research tradition of at least some of the authors of these proposals will differ fundamentally from that of their reviewers. Faculty working in land-grant institutions, in particular, may not readily be able to address reviewers whose research tradition focuses on numerical rather than experimental applications. In addition, many of the reviewers of proposals dealing with vector transgenics will, themselves, be practitioners of that discipline. Authors of research proposals that pursue aspects of insect physiology may also find
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themselves at a disadvantage. These developments seem likely to increase the numbers of funded research proposals that approach vector biology from the tradition of molecular biology. The administrators of U.S. schools of public health and of medicine, therefore, would feel constrained to plan their staffing policies accordingly.
A cohort of scientists is required who can usefully produce the next generation of public health entomologists and whose research activities will promote that goal. Their programs will strike some balance between the three entomological interests that have vied for support during the past half century—vector biology, insect physiology, and molecular biology—and their work should incorporate strong epidemiological features. Because faculty-hiring priorities are determined so strongly by the NIH system of investigator-initiated grants, a major responsibility in this regard falls on that federal agency. Participation by foundations and private donors may contribute powerfully to the outcome of this process. The characteristics of the evolving discipline of public health entomology remain to be defined.
Aldhous P. 1993. Malaria: Focus on mosquito genes. Science 30:605–608.
Desowitz RS. 1993. Malaria Capers: Tales of Parasites and People. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
GAO (General Accounting Office). 1982. Malaria Control in Developing Countries: Where Does it Stand? What is the U.S. Role? Report to the Administrator for International Development, Agency for International Development, 26 April 1982. ID-82-27. Washington, DC: General Accounting Office.
Gardner MJ, Hall N, Fung E, White O, Berriman M, Hyman RW, Carlton JM, Pain A, Nelson KE, Bowman S, Paulsen IT, James K, Eisen JA, Rutherford K, Salzberg SL, Craig A, Kyes S, Chan MS, Nene V, Shallom SJ, Suh B, Peterson J, Angiuoli S, Pertea M, Allen J, Selengut J, Haft D, Mather MW, Vaidya AB, Martin DM, Fairlamb AH, Fraunholz MJ, Roos DS, Ralph SA, McFadden GI, Cummings LM, Subramanian GM, Mungall C, Venter JC, Carucci DJ, Hoffman SL, Newbold C, Davis RW, Fraser CM, and Barrell B. 2002. Genome sequence of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Nature 419:498–511.
Holt RA, Subramanian GM, Halpern A, Sutton GG, Charlab R, Nusskern DR, Wincker P, Clark AG, Ribeiro JM, Wides R, Salzberg SL, Loftus B, Yandell M, Majoros WH, Rusch DB, Lai Z, Kraft CL, Abril JF, Anthouard V, Arensburger P, Atkinson PW, Baden H, de Berardinis V, Baldwin D, Benes V, Biedler J, Blass C, Bolanos R, Boscus D, Barnstead M, Cai S, Center A, Chaturverdi K, Christohides GK, Chrystal MA, Clamp M, Cravchik A, Curwen V, Dana A, Delcher A, Dew I, Evans CA, Flanigan M, Grundschober-Freimoser A, Friedli L, Gu Z, Guan P, Guigo R, Hillenmeyer ME, Hladun SL, Hogan JR, Hong YS, Hoover J, Jaillon O, Ke Z, Kodira C, Kokoza E, Koutsos A, Letunic I, Levitsky A, Liang Y, Lin JJ, Lobo NF, Lopez JR, Malek JA, McIntosh TC, Meister S, Miller J, Mobarry C, Mogin E, Murphy SD, O'Brochta DA, Pfannkoch C, Qi R, Regier MA, Remington K, Shao H, Sharakhova MV, Sitter CD, Shetty J, Smith TJ, Strong R, Sun J, Thomasova D, Ton LQ, Topalis P, Tu Z, Unger MF, Walenz B, Wang A, Wang J, Wang M, Wang X, Woodford KJ, Wortman JR, Wu M, Yao A, Zdobnov EM, Zhang H, Zhao Q, Zhao X, Zhu SC, Zhimulev I, Coluzzi M, della Torre A, Roth CW, Louis C,
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Kalush F, Mural RJ, Myers EW, Adams MD, Smith HO, Broder S, Gardner MJ, Fraser CM, Birney E, Bork P, Brey PT, Venter JC, Weissenbach J, Kafatos FC, Collins FH, and Hoffman SL. 2002. The genome sequence of the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae. Science 298:129–149.
Institute of Medicine. 2003. Microbial Threats to Health: Emergence, Detection, and Response. The National Academies Press: Washington, DC.
James AA, Beckage NE, Christensen B, Ffrench-Constant R, and Raikhel AS. 1998. Toward the Genetic Manipulation of Insects. Taos, New Mexico. Keystone Symposium, Sponsored by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Spielman A. 1994. Why entomological antimalaria research should not focus on transgenic mosquitoes. Parasitol Today 10:374–376.
Spielman A. 2003. Research approaches in the development of interventions against vector-borne infection. J Exp Biol 206:3727–3734.
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See C. Wittke, Tambo and Bones: A History of the American Minstrel Stage (1930, repr. 1968).
Form of entertainment popular in the U.S. in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It originated in the 1830s with the popular white performer Thomas D. Rice, known as "Jim Crow," who wore the stylized makeup called blackface and performed songs and dances in a stereotyped imitation of African Americans. Blackfaced white minstrel troupes were particularly popular in the U.S. and England in 1840–80 and included groups such as the Christy Minstrels, who played on Broadway for 10 years and had songs composed for them by Stephen Foster. The minstrel show included an opening chorus and frequent exchanges of jokes between the emcee, Mr. Interlocutor, and the end men, Mr. Tambo (who played the tambourine) and Mr. Bones (who rattled the bones), interspersed with ballads, comic songs, and instrumental numbers (usually on the banjo and violin), as well as individual acts, soft-shoe dances, and specialty numbers. Minstrel troupes composed of African Americans were formed after the Civil War; in general, minstrel shows were the only theatrical medium in which black performers of the period could support themselves. Minstrel shows had effectively disappeared by the early 20th century, but the effects of their racial stereotyping persisted in performance mediums well into mid century.
Learn more about minstrel show with a free trial on Britannica.com.
While the show started off being broadcast in (genuine) black-and-white, the show was one of the very first to be moved to colour by the BBC in 1967.
Several famous personalities guested on the show, while others started their careers there. Comedian Lenny Henry was one such star, being the first black comedian to appear, in 1975.
When a revival of the Black And White Minstrel Show was proposed by fictional television presenter Roger Mellie, Tom states "Television bade good riddance to that racist rubbish decades ago".

subset: commoncrawl


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This is slow? I think this it is fantastic to more than double your bench press in a month! While I can leg press 450 pounds for 6 good reps, I can't do an overhead-press with a 22 pound KB with my left arm (I can with my right), and I can only push press an unweighted 35-lb BB. I know that it isn't about the weight, it is about the effort but I've been trying to build upper body strength for quite some time. As women we do tend to gain lower body strength more easily than upper.
I really want to be able to do good overhead and front squats, but I need more strength to be able to do that - plus there are a couple of gravel road (mountain bike) races I want to do next year where increased upper body strength can only help. My core is strong, I am just a weak sister where my arms are concerned and it is frustrating. Patience and consistence, that is what I keep telling myself, patience and consistence and listen to the expert I've hired to help me
Last edited by Catrin; 11-20-2012 at 03:06 PM.


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Technique - Fabric
Give a friend some food for thought.This whimsical and fun fabric panel is made up of 12 (5" x 5") squares featuring sweet and hunger-inducing sayings, perfect for placing in a quilt to give to the cook in your life. Choose from black print on white or black print on natural; made of 100% cotton fabric from Block Party Studios.
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The location of the hotel was less than a 10-minute walk from the Mito train station. Even though it is located right next to a road and had some restaurants a stone's throw away, the area was still quiet enough to get a peaceful night's sleep. Breakfast was held in the room facing the road, which also happens to face... More
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By Barbara Kerbel
30. December 2010 10:51
If it's January 1, I am at the home of my friends Anne and Keith. Every year the same cast and crew, more or less, gathers in their kitchen, den, dining room, basement, living room to eat (too much), drink (a lot) and share the first day of the new year. Our common thread is that we are all friends and colleagues of Anne and Keith, but the party has become a "same time, next year" event where it is really nice to spend time even with those people you do not see between times.
By Fern Kupfer
28. December 2010 07:35
Babies – goggle eyed and chubby cheeked – were made adorable for a reason: so that their mothers would pick them up (even at 3 in the morning) and fall in love with them. The good doctor (Spock) who was blamed for the excesses of the Sixties generation, actually had very good child-rearing advice. His basic message was that new mothers should trust their own instincts, should listen to their inner selves. Stop worrying so much, he advised.
27. December 2010 05:51
It's old news that celebrities, ever eager to be original have given their babies some bizarre names over the years. There's Sylvester Stallone's son, Sage Moonblood, actor Jason Lee's son Pilot Inspektor, singer songwriter Bob Geldof's daughter Fifi Trixibelle, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's son Buddy Bear, and rapper T-Pain's son Kaydnz Kodah to toss off a few.
23. December 2010 11:20
One Christmas my writer husband gave the girls a gift of their own pasts. He went through his old journals and made copies of the entries describing their births, then stories of them as babies and toddlers; he had written down the adorable things they said; he described sending them off the first day of school. Then he copied photos to go along with some of the entries, making a Megan Book and a Katie Book.
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Katie StrawGwen Watson Brian Ratzker Barbara Kerbel Fern Kupfer Melody Everdeen


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Greetings for Prisca and Aquila
Some scholars have theorized that Apollos wrote the book of Hebrews, and if this is true, there is little doubt that some of its content comes from the teaching of Prisca and Aquila. Even if Apollos did not write Hebrews, ...Read More
The Perils of Telling the Truth
Matthew Henry offers this caution: "Ministers sometimes create enemies to themselves by the faithful discharge of their duty. Yet ministers must not forbear speaking the truth, for fear of offending others." Pastors and leaders must love their people well, but ...Read More
Timothy's Charge
John Calvin wrote, "We must maintain a contest; and this applies universally to all believers, but especially to Christian teachers, who may be said to be standard-bearers and leaders." Unfortunately, many in the church, leaders and lay people alike, fall ...Read More
The Martyrdom of Polycarp
Even as the Western world grows increasingly hostile to the Christian faith, we must still remember—and thank God for—the freedoms we enjoy. We do not yet risk our lives by confessing Christ, but that is not true for millions of ...Read More
An Assured Salvation
The Scriptures make clear that peace with God is the foundation for and source of the peace of God. Such peace stems from knowing that almighty God has set His love upon us and orders all our circumstances for our ...Read More
Preserving Christ's Sheep
Christians who choose not to exercise their liberty before immature believers need not do the same when they are not with immature believers. The weaker brother may not bind the conscience of the stronger believer, and as we will see, ...Read More
Christian Liberty
The principle of Christian liberty is difficult to apply. Many take advantage of Christian freedom and stick their liberty in the faces of weaker brothers. Others become legalists, elevating human traditions and scruples to the level of divine mandate. The ...Read More
The Days of Purim
In our darkest hours, when all seems to be against us, we can be confident that we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:37). He has purchased our final redemption and will finally destroy all His (and thus ...Read More
Redeemed by Faith
We cannot live our lives before the face of God until we are clear that it is the perfect obedience of Christ alone that saves us. If we think that we earn our own righteousness, we have not been justified, ...Read More
Cosmic Redemption
Sin has consequences not only for ourselves but also for the entire creation. Because of what we did in Adam, the world suffers. One day, the suffering will be over, and this is a day for which even the earth ...Read More
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Archived Story
One injured in single-car wreck Monday
By Staff Reports Published 3:32pm Tuesday, July 3, 2012A woman was injured in a single car accident Monday, July 2 on Highway 191 and County Road 210 between Jemison and Maplesville.
The West Chilton Fire Department responded to the call between 8:30 and 9 p.m., West Chilton Fire Chief Steve Tate said.
The woman, whose identity was not available at this time, was the only person in the vehicle.
She was airlifted to UAB Hospital and is currently in stable condition.


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Friday 27 February 2015
Leicestershire CCC has announced eight days of pre-season fixtures in 2015, including six potential days of action at Grace Road.
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Leicestershire can be pleased with their efforts on the first day of the LV=CC match against Division Two table-toppers Hampshire at Grace Road.
After losing the toss and having to bowl on a good pitch in hot conditions, County restricted Hampshire to 321-8 with Nathan Buck continuing his fine start to the season by taking 4-78 from 20 overs.
Jimmy Adams and Will Smith shared an opening partnership of 75 and the impressive James Vince (70, 88b) added 92 for the fourth wicket with fellow half-centurion Adam Wheater (57, 55b), but Leicestershire's attack kept chipping away.
After the NatWest T20 Blast launch on Friday, it was back to LV=CC action for two teams who are yet to lose in four-day cricket.
Ramnaresh Sarwan came into the Leicestershire side for his first appearance of the season in place of the unwell Matthew Boyce, while Niall O'Brien returned after playing for Ireland and replaced Michael Thornely.
Hampshire were missing Michael Carberry (international duty) and Liam Dawson (injured), so Smith and Joe Gatting were promoted to roles of opener and number three respectively.
There was a tidy start to the day by new-ball duo Charlie Shreck (25-7-73-1) and Anthony Ireland (19-2-71-0).
Shreck bowled two beauties to Adams in the fifth over of the day from the Bennett End; the first shaped back in and almost bowled the captain as he offered no stroke while the second moved across him and almost found the edge.
Smith nudged down to third man for the first boundary of the game in the sixth over and another four came in that region at the end of the 11th over. Adams then drove Buck down the ground in the 14th over.
Ireland came on for a second spell in place of Shreck, who had fine figures of 7-3-9-0 at that stage. Smith again found the vacant third man boundary - this shot was of a more authoritative nature - as the openers continued to frustrate.
Buck had an appeal for caught behind off Adams turned down in the 16th over and Ireland produced a jaffa that ripped past Smith's outside edge. The batsman responded with an excellent cut strike that raced away to the fence.
An eventful 18th over then followed from Buck as Adams clipped, pulled and drove to the ropes before offering a sharp chance off the last ball. Ireland couldn't hold on after a valiant attempt to make up ground at fine leg.
The Hampshire 50 arrived in the 19th over as Smith punched a two through cover point and a well-timed pull brought the former Durham batsman a fifth boundary two overs later. A run out nearly occurred at the non-striker's end as Adams drove back to Taylor but Smith just made his ground.
Jigar Naik came on to bowl the 24th over and Taylor (17-4-42-2) switched to the Bennett End. Adams worked a delivery from the left armer down to long leg to pick up a fifth boundary before producing an excellent sweep off Naik that went very fine.
The bowlers had been patient and were rewarded with the wickets of both openers before lunch. Taylor produced the first breakthrough as Smith (35, 86b), who had worked hard to set up his innings, was unfortunate to see an attempted pull clatter into leg stump. Shreck built on the success as Adams (40, 92b) nicked to O'Brien with the score on 79.
Vince edged and drove two successive fours before Gatting punched through mid-on as Hampshire started the afternoon session well. But they were pegged back as Buck, now coming down the hill, found the glove as Gatting (6, 20b) attempted to pull and Angus Robson pocketed the chance in the gully.
Hampshire had now lost three wickets for 16 runs but Vince and Wheater unleashed a counter-attack. Vince drove through point to take the score into three figures in style and another flowing off-side drive also raced to the boundary boards as he took 13 from the 37th over.
Wheater drove Buck through mid-off for four and then squirmed a drive through gully off Ireland. Vince powered a stroke through mid-on as he continued to dominate, and Wheater then drove and pulled consecutive Ireland deliveries to the fence.
Wheater twice drove away to the fence in the 45th over - the first of those boundaries recorded the 50 partnership. Vince struck through mid-wicket to score four more and although Taylor then found his edge, the ball was dipping as it got to a diving Naik at slip.
Three more fours were scored by Wheater and when he offered a chance, Taylor couldn't quite cling on to a return catch. Wheater moved to a 47-ball 50 with his tenth four and he carved Naik over backward point to collect another boundary. Wheater's lively knock was ended as he edged a quicker Naik delivery through to O'Brien.
The in-form Vince moved to a 71-ball 50 with his eighth four – a tickle down to fine leg – and the batsman used his feet to drive Naik through the covers for four. Sean Ervine then drove a full toss to the fence to record Hampshire's first batting point.
Vince collected three further boundaries through mid-wicket, the covers and cover point but Buck ended his innings with a slow and full delivery that clattered into the base of off-stump. A second wicket arrived in the over as Michael Bates (0, 5b) got an inside edge onto his pad off Buck before being held by Robson at gully.
Leicestershire now had two bowling points, and Hampshire were 229-6 at tea with Ervine on 10 and Matt Coles on 7. Ervine (40, 84b) hit a brace of fours in the 67th over while Coles tickled his second four down to long leg in the 69th over, by the end of which Hampshire had recorded a second batting point.
Coles (21, 40b) drove through mid-off for four and the partnership had reached 41 when the all-rounder feathered a leg-side delivery from Taylor to O'Brien. Kyle Abbott (33*, 69b) got himself in before hitting Naik (14-1-48-1) for a four and six off consecutive deliveries and the new ball was taken as soon as it was available.
Abbott drove through mid-on for four and the partnership reached 39 before Buck found Ervine's edge and Greg Smith took a superb catch at second slip. Danny Briggs picked up a single to take the score to 300 and the duo took their stand to 22 before stumps, with Briggs (14*, 36b) scoring three of the four boundaries gathered.
Ireland thought he had made a late breakthrough but a Briggs edge was dying as it got to 'keeper O'Brien. The match will resume at 11am tomorrow morning.
(Other bowling figures on the day - Robson 1-0-5-0)
* Thanks to Ed Melia for the photograph of Nathan.


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Pacific Islands Travel Stories Travel Articles
- Island of Stone Money – Yap, Micronesia
- John Fillmed ventures to a remote island that sees less than 5,000 visitors a year.
Read more - Hitchhike the Yacht – New Zealand to Vanuatu
- Kinga Freespirit "hitchhike
Read more - Fiji Dawn – Sleeping Giant Mountains, Nadi, Fiji
- Ukie encounters more than a Fiji sunrise on his morning stroll.
Read more - The Most Distant Battlefield – Palau Islands, Fed. St. Micronesia
- Rich McIntyre travelled thousands of miles to visit this most distant and least visited American battlefield of the Second World War, where for two terrible months in 1944, American Marine and Army un
Read more - Discover the Lullaby of Coconut Palms and The Warm, Friendly Culture of Fiji – Fiji
- According to Julie Ann Shapiro,listening to the ru
Read more - Republic of the Marshall Islands (Oceania) – Home to Popcorn Delicious and Coral Reefs – Marshall Islands
- In Majuro, Julie went snorkeling among incredible
Read more - Be Careful What You Wish For – Tavewa, Fiji
- Andrea Slachtova had often dreamed of being strand
Read more - Swagman #2 – Expect Nothing, Accept Everything – Nadi, Fiji
- George Dunn lost a day of his life on the way to Fiji, but the price was worth paying after just a few days in Nadi.
Read more - RTW Honeymoon #14: Christchurch, Cannibalism and Kava – Christchurch, New Zealand and Fiji
- Or...Fine Young Cannibals: Not just an 80's pop band! Sean and Kim enjoyed Fijian hospitality and kava ceremonies as part of their final stop of their RTW Honeymoon.
Read more - What Do Travellers Do All Day?: #23 – What's on the Menu in Fiji? – Nadi, Levuka, Suva, Nananui Ra, Fiji
- What do you do on an island when you have no plans? Drink more kava, say Bula and develop allergies
Read more


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quote: The only team we have to get ready to play is Auburn.
quote:Posted by Tiger79 Wow glad you guys aren't coaching. The only team we have to get ready to play is Auburn.
quote:4-0 so far boat Pretty impressive
quote:Did anyone really think we wouldn't be 4-0 going into Georgia?
quote:Take off the P&G glasses. We're looking at 9-3.
quote:For real! The OP is in for some serious heartache this season. This is one of those years where I won't be terribly upset with "ten win Les."
quote:How good would it feel to be really impressive on Saturday.


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stayed last weekend at roman house again home from home I was not dissapointed. I was met by Mike / room was spotlessly clean / felt like home 28/3/14 to 1/4/14 good breakfast mike will do anything for you
- Official Description (provided by the hotel):
- Roman House Bed and Breakfast offers B & B in a private home. All rooms have TV, comfortable chairs and tea facilities. We are close to Plymouth but in a secluded green area by Central Park. We have spacious rooms and a choice of types. We offer secure gated parking in our driveway and are close to Playmouth Argle Home Park. ... more less


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Dawn Ranch Lodge
Beneath a contemporary flair, the Dawn Ranch Lodge proudly displays its time-worn history that dates to 1905, when San Francisco socialites came here by train. Dawn Ranch Lodge has been welcoming guests for more than 100 years, and you can tell by the atmosphere, the warm service and plenty of luxurious charm.... more
- Wifi
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- Property Size 53 units
- Conference Facility
- Kids Allowed
- Nearby City San Francisco
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- Open Dates All Year
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What is your pursuit? Do you have a dream or a goal? Maybe it's catching giant rainbow trout with a dry fly or a two-pound bluegill using ultra light tackle. Maybe its whitetails or turkeys or a giant bull elk with a bow. Can you imagine how dull life would be if we had no goals, no passions, no dreams or no pursuits?
The Christian life should be anything but dull. Jesus says in John 10:10 he came to give us life to the fullest, and the Apostle Paul again reminds us in Ephesians 3:20, God is able to do in and through you more than we could ever ask or imagine. What's not to be excited about then?
Scripture would seem to back up the idea of pursuing good things. In Philippians 3:13-14, Paul puts everything into perspective. He writes. "I forget what's behind me and I am reaching forward to what is ahead". He then adds that his goal is the prize promised by God. What could be better than pursuing and capturing the prize? Paul speaks of his life and his pursuit like the adventurer he was; the kind many of us are or hope to be.
There is nothing wrong with our earthly pursuits whether it be relationships, financial security, a trout, or a trophy on the wall. But have you thought about the question Jesus asked in Mark 8:36 , "What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?" All of our earthly pursuits, no matter how fun or how big, are all temporary. The only thing to matter in eternity is our status before God and our relationship with Jesus Christ. No passion, no pursuit, no goal should ever, can ever, take the place of that. Don't let earthly gain rob you of heavenly reward. Chase your dreams as part of the exciting life God intends for you on earth. But whatever you do, don't neglect the pursuit that will lead you into eternity. We need to keep it all in perspective.
This fall you have an amazing opportunity. While pursuing your game afield, throw in some time each day for some much needed perspective. You are invited to join Zeke Pipher, Aaron Farley, Brodie Swisher, Mark Huelsing, Randy Hynes, and myself for the "In Pursuit Challenge". Using Zeke's new 90 devotional for outdoorsmen and women, In Pursuit, as the basis, you will join a community of like minded believers, from across North America, who are seeking to make this season the best of their lives.
The 90 Day In Pursuit Sportsman's Challenge will give you the encouragement and perspective you need this fall. You will be challenged by those of leading daily discussions on the In Pursuit Challenge Facebook page but also by all those participating. But its not all "serious stuff." You will learn great hunting and outdoor tips from experts in their fields and have the opportunity to participate in a big buck contest and maybe even win some great gear.
How do you participate? Go to and order the book. Get the t-shirt too so you can show it off next to your big buck this fall! Then, go to the Facebook page and request to join our group. One of us will quickly approve you and your are in! Its that simple.
Make the most of your fall season. Make it the best ever! Stay true to your pursuits, don't give up, and let us help you keep it all in perspective with the In Pursuit Sportsman's Challenge.
Everything kicks off on September 1st. I hope to see you there!
PS…This is not just for guys. A number of women have joined the Challenge too!


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Google is not done with the year-long spring cleaning. As soon as Larry Page took over as CEO, Google started closing down or merging services and products that weren't getting much traction. The big ones are long gone now, but Google is still shutting down or changing features and smaller services to make for more streamlined products.
In the latest cleaning batch, Google announced retiring several products and features as well as merging some into other existing products.AdSense for Feeds getting the axe, FeedBurner may be next
AdSense for Feeds is getting the axe, it's no big surprise, RSS feeds are mostly an anachronism these days, for better or for worse.Rumors about Google's RSS tool FeedBurner impending demise have been intensifying lately and the shutdown of the monetization platform is only adding to the legitimacy of those rumors. AdSense for Feeds will be retired starting October 2nd and will be killed off for good on December 3rd.
No more background images on the Google homepage
Google is also killing off custom background images for the Google homepage. With iGoogle already on its way out, background images were the last way users could customize the Google homepage.The feature, dubbed Classic Plus, was introduced a couple of years ago, but it seems Google doesn't think it's seeing enough usage to justify keeping it.
Users won't be able to upload new images starting October 16 and the background images will stop displaying in November. Any photo uploaded for the feature will still be available in Google+ Photos/Picasa.


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ABC News' Mary Bruce (@marykbruce) reports:
In a message that may be too little too late, President Obama used his weekly address to issue an urgent plea to Congress to compromise on a deal to raise the debt ceiling and reduce the deficit.
The morning after a deal to reduce the deficit broke down, Obama outlined his case for "a balanced approach to cutting the deficit" through spending cuts and revenue increases.
"We need an approach that goes after waste in the budget and gets rid of pet projects that cost billions of dollars," Obama said. "We need an approach that makes some serious cuts to worthy programs – cuts I wouldn't make under normal circumstances. And we need an approach that asks everybody to do their part."
With less than two weeks to raise the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling before the Aug. 2 default deadline, the president continues to have hope that a deal to reduce the deficit is possible.
"There will be plenty of haggling over the details in the days ahead. But this debate boils down to a simple choice," he said. "We can come together for the good of the country and reach a compromise; we can strengthen our economy and leave for our children a more secure future.
"Or we can issue insults and demands and ultimatums at each another, withdraw to our partisan corners, and achieve nothing," he said. "Well, we know the right thing to do. And we know what the American people expect us to do."
- Mary Bruce


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Web Support For Officer Wilson Increases
Aug. 21, 2014
(Ferguson, MO) -- Online donations going to the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown continue to pour in. On Monday, supporters of Officer Darren Wilson created a GoFundMe page to raise money for any legal costs. So far, more than 43-hundred people have donated close to 180-thousand-dollars.


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Posts tagged drew-brees
Drew Brees discusses 'Madden Curse,' fan voting for Madden NFL 11 cover
Even people who avoid sports like the plague know that there is a certain "curse" associated with being on the cover of a Madden game. This year's cover boy, New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees, ain't sweatin' it though -- "it is what it is, but I look at it as a challenge," he told ESPN. Heck of a "c...
Drew Brees singled out for Madden 11 cover
Boy, how quickly it all can change: One moment you're leading America's darling Saints to a Super Bowl victory and the next you're cursed by the very same fans that cheered you on. Such is the fate of New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, who has almost certainly been afflicted with the "Madden Curse...
Jersey sales in Home support breast cancer awareness charity
The sentence following this sentence will be completely unprecedented for this humble news blog: We completely endorse the practice of spending real-life money on virtual articles of clothing -- provided that clothing is the jersey seen above. Sure, black and pink jerseys may not be your style, but...
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Off the Grid: The Witcher Adventure Game and Star Wars Imperial Assault
Posted on Feb 3rd 2015 2:15PM


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Letters to the Editor
Readers write about prisoner rehabilitation, converting the US Embassy in Iraq into a university, and tying corporate compensation to a company's success.
In regard to the Nov. 10 Opinion piece, "My Shawshank Redemption": Thank you so much for printing this piece from a California inmate regarding the honors program there.
As a representative of a chaplain-support group in northern California, I welcome any insights offered to leavening the human condition in the prisons in our world. Their worth is certainly attested to by this writer.
I found this piece to be very inspiring. The author's "desire to build on the better part" of himself was, undoubtedly, the key to his improved situation. We all could learn from that motive!
Let's hope that corrections officials at all levels recognize the value of self-help opportunities, and the untapped intelligence and talents of inmates.
The California penal system's honors program, so glowingly described by this author, needs to be evaluated by more clear-eyed people in the corrections system, and certainly not by one inmate.
My experience as a teacher in a prison system tells me that the author is right in that many inmates would be good if they knew how. But my experience also tells me that the prison culture is often driven by the brutes among the inmates.
Trust is hard in such situations.
US embassy should become university
In regard to the Nov. 4 Opinion piece, "A bold step for US goodwill in Iraq": I was intrigued by author Adil E. Shamoo's suggestion that the huge new US embassy there be converted to a university. This seems to be a good way of enhancing the US image in Iraq and around the world.
Of course, the Iraqi government would have to approve, and a suitable alternative embassy located. The latter step might be difficult, but in light of the billions of US dollars being spent in Iraq, it should not be impossible.


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App Description
TouchMyApps.com gave Golf Cart Ranger a "Kiss It" rating, their highest:With its simple yet addictive gameplay and excellent graphics, I am giving Golf Cart Ranger a solid Kiss. It's fun, easy to jump right in and the high scores will make you want to go back for more.
More fun than a bucket of balls! Drive your golf cart over the range while avoiding course hazards and flying golf balls to collect as many balls as possible before you run out of gas.
Varied stage objectives change up gameplay, keeping challenges feeling fresh and exciting as you cruise through all 9 courses.
For the complete experience, grab the full version of Golf Cart Ranger (ON SALE NOW) to play all 36 exciting stages across 2 completely unique courses. Also offered is "Snow Job", an In-App Purchase that provides another full, snow-capped course of 18 icy new stages!
Lite Version Features:
• Highly Responsive Driving Controls
• 9 Total Stages
• 3 Different Stage Types including "Trail Blazer", "Tons-O-Balls" and "Ball Hunt"
• Crisp, Colorful Graphics
• Professionally recorded High Quality Audio and Music
Game Center Support includes a Highly-Competitive Leaderboard!
The full version of Golf Cart Ranger offers Achievements, plus 3 new Leaderboards!!
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod touch (3rd generation), and iPod touch (4th generation). Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
App Changes
November 29, 2010 Initial Release