Ludwig Mauthner

Ludwig Mauthner (April 13, 1840 – October 20, 1894) was an Austrian neuroanatomist and ophthalmologist who was a native of Prague.
He studied medicine at the University of Vienna, where he received his doctorate in 1861. In 1864 he was a privatdozent of ophthalmology, later becoming a professor at the University of Innsbruck (1869). In 1877 he resigned his position at Innsbruck, afterwards returning to Vienna as a lecturer. Later he was appointed assistant director of the Allgemeine Poliklinik, and in 1894 attained the chair of ophthalmology at the university.
In 1859, while still a student, Mauthner described a fibrous structure in the spinal cord of fishes that contained two large cell bodies in the animals' metencephalon. These cells were to become known as Mauthner cells, and are known to exist in amphibians as well as in fish. Mauthner cells have large-diameter axons that run down the length of the spinal cord.
Mauthner wrote numerous treatises in the field of ophthalmology, including "Die sympathischen Augenleiden", a book that was translated into English in 1881 as "The sympathetic diseases of the eye". He was also the first to describe choroideremia.


William Henry Allchin

Sir William Henry Allchin (1846–1912) was an English physician and lecturer on comparative anatomy, physiology, pathology and medicine. He was knighted in 1907.
Biography.
Born in Paris, William Allchin was the eldest son of a physician from Bayswater and entered University College, London to study medicine. He served as chief surgeon of the SS Great Eastern for 5 years when the ship was laying cable. He graduated from University College, London as M.B. in 1871. At Westminster Hospital he became an assistant physician in 1873 and a physician in 1877 and dean from 1878 to 1883 and again from 1890 to 1893; he retired from the hospital staff in 1905. Allchin was the editor of the "Manual of Medicine" and a contributor to Quain’s "Dictionary of Medicine", Allbutt’s "System of Medicine", and Keating's "Cyclopaedia of the Diseases of Children".
On 19 August 1880, Allchin married Margaret, daughter of Alexander Holland of New York.


Respiratory inductance plethysmography

Respiratory inductance plethysmography (RIP) is a method of evaluating pulmonary ventilation by measuring the movement of the chest and abdominal wall.
Accurate measurement of pulmonary ventilation or breathing often requires the use of devices such as masks or mouthpieces coupled to the airway opening. These devices are often both encumbering and invasive, and thus ill suited for continuous or ambulatory measurements. As an alternative RIP devices that sense respiratory excursions at the body surface can be used to measure pulmonary ventilation.
According to a paper by Konno and Mead “the chest can be looked upon as a system of two compartments with only one degree of freedom each”. Therefore, any volume change of the abdomen must be equal and opposite to that of the rib cage. The paper suggests that the volume change is close to being linearly related to changes in antero-posterior (front to back of body) diameter. When a known air volume is inhaled and measured with a spirometer, a volume-motion relationship can be established as the sum of the abdominal and rib cage displacements. Therefore, according to this theory, only changes in the antero-posterior diameter of the abdomen and the rib cage are needed to estimate changes in lung volume.
Several sensor methodologies based on this theory have been developed. RIP is the most frequently used, established and accurate plethysmography method to estimate lung volume from respiratory movements.
RIP has been used in many clinical and academic research studies in a variety of domains including polysomnographic (sleep), psychophysiology, psychiatric research, anxiety and stress research, anesthesia, cardiology and pulmonary research (asthma, COPD, dyspnea).
Technology.
A respiratory inductance plethysmograph consists of two sinusoid wire coils insulated and placed within two 2.5 cm (about 1 inch) wide, lightweight elastic and adhesive bands. The transducer bands are placed around the rib cage under the armpits and around the abdomen at the level of the umbilicus (belly button). They are connected to an oscillator and subsequent frequency demodulation electronics to obtain digital waveforms. During inspiration the cross-sectional area of the rib cage and abdomen increases altering the self-inductance of the coils and the frequency of their oscillation, with the increase in cross-sectional area proportional to lung volumes. The electronics convert this change in frequency to a digital respiration waveform where the amplitude of the waveform is proportional to the inspired breath volume.
Single Vs. Dual Band Respiration.
Dual Band Respiration.
Konno and Mead extensively evaluated a two-degrees-of-freedom model of chest wall motion, whereby ventilation could be derived from measurements of rib cage and abdomen displacements. With this model, tidal volume (Vt) was calculated as the sum of the anteroposterior dimensions of the rib cage and abdomen, and could be measured to within 10% of actual Vt as long as a given posture was maintained.
Single Band Respiration.
Changes in volume of the thoracic cavity can also be inferred from displacements of the rib cage and diaphragm. Motion of the rib cage can be directly assessed, whereas the motion of the diaphragm is indirectly assessed as the outward movement of the anterolateral abdominal wall.
However, accuracy issues arise when trying to assess accurate respiratory volumes from a single respiration band placed either at the thorax, abdomen or midline. Due to differences in posture and thoraco-abdominal respiratory synchronization it is not possible to obtain accurate respiratory volumes with a single band. Furthermore, the shape of the acquired waveform tends to be non-linear due to the non-exact co-ordination of the two respiratory compartments. This further limits quantification of many useful respiratory indices and limits utility to only respiration rates and other basic timing indices. Therefore, to accurately perform volumetric respiratory measurements, a dual band respiratory sensor system must be required.
RIP Data Analysis.
Dual band respiratory inductance plethysmography can be used to describe various measures of complex respiratory patterns. The image shows waveforms and measures commonly analyzed.
Respiratory rate is the number of breaths per minute. A non-specific measure of respiratory disorder.
Tidal volume (Vt) is the volume inspired and expired with each breath. Variability in the wave form can be used to differentiate between restrictive (less) and obstructive pulmonary diseases as well as acute anxiety.
Minute ventilation is equivalent to tidal volume multiplied by respiratory rate and is used to assess metabolic activity.
Peak inspiratory flow (PifVt) is a measure that reflects respiratory drive, the higher its value, the greater the respiratory drive in the presence of coordinated thoraco-abdominal or even moderately discoordinated thoraco-abdominal movements.
Fractional inspiratory time (Ti/Tt) is the "Duty cycle" (Ti/Tt, ratio of time of inspirationy to total breath time). Low values may reflect
severe airways obstruction and can also occur during speech. Higher values are observed when snoring.
Work of breathing is a measure of a "Rapid shallow breathing index".
Peak/mean inspiratory and expiratory flow measures the presence of upper airway flow limitations during inspiration and expiration.
%RCi is the percent contribution of the rib cage excursions to the tidal volume Vt. The %RCi contribution to Tidal Volume ratio is obtained by dividing the inspired volume in the RC band by the inspired volume in the algebraic sum of RC + AB at the point of the peak of inspiratory tidal volume. This value is higher in woman than in men. The values are also generally higher during acute hyperventilation.
Phase Angle - Phi - Normal breathing involves a combination of both thoracic and abdominal (diaphragmatic) movements. During inhalation, both the thoracic and abdominal cavities simultaneously expand in volume, and thus in girth as well. If there is a blockage in the trachea or nasopharynx, the phasing of these movements will shift in relation to the degree of the obstruction. In the case of a total obstruction, the strong chest muscles force the thorax to expand, pulling the diaphragm upward in what is referred to as “paradoxical” breathing – paradoxical in that the normal phases of thoracic and abdominal motion are reversed. This is commonly referred to as the Phase Angle.
Apnea & hypopnea detection - Diagnostic components of sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome and periodic breathing.
Apnea & hypopnea classification - Phase relation between thorax and abdomen classifies apnea/hypopnea events into central, mixed, and obstructive types.
qDEEL quantitative difference of end expiratory lung volume is a change in the level of end expiratory lung volume and may be elevated in Cheyne-Stokes respiration and periodic breathing.
Accuracy.
Dual band respiratory inductance plethysmography was validated in determining tidal volume during exercise and shown to be accurate. A version of RIP embedded in a garment called the LifeShirt was used for these validation studies.
External links.
Use of RIP for preclinical research in freely moving animals :


Paraveterinary workers in Japan

Veterinary support personnel in Japan do not currently hold any official state recognition and are known under a variety of equivalent names. Credentialing is carried out by various private organizations. These organizations are the Japan Animal Health Technicians Association (JAHTA), the Japanese Animal Hospital Association (JAHA), the Japan Small Animal Veterinary Association (JSAVA), the All Japan Veterinary Co-operative (JVC), and the Japanese Society of Animal Nursing. The Japanese Veterinary Nurses & Technicians Association (JVNTA), a non-certifying body which closed in 2007, was one of the original member organizations of the IVNTA. In 2009 the Japanese Veterinary Nursing Association (JVNA) was organized as an effort to unify and standardize the profession in Japan and to seek state recognition. The JVNA, which has the support of the Japanese Veterinary Medical Association (JVMA—the national organization for veterinarians), may serve only as a temporary vehicle towards a single permanent national certifying body. All of the organizations have been collaborating since 2010 as the Council for Veterinary Nursing Examination and have reached an agreement to share a common examination in February 2012. In the meantime, a new organization, supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries; the JVMA; and the JVNA has been tasked with developing a nationally sanctioned unified exam, the first of which was scheduled to be given in February 2013. Education lacks uniformity but in most cases consists of two- to three-year programs. A council of universities for animal nursing was also established and tasked with building a core curriculum for veterinary nursing. The council is made up of: Yamazaki Gakuen University, Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University, Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts, Teikyo University of Science, and Rakuno Gakuen University.


Globe Life Liberty National Division

Globe Life Liberty National Division, formerly Liberty National Life Insurance, located in McKinney, Texas, is a provider of life and supplemental health insurance. It provides individual coverage through home and workplace sales. Licensed in 49 states, Liberty National was founded in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1900.
History.
Liberty National traces its origin back to August 27, 1900, when its predecessor was founded as the Heralds of Liberty, a fraternal organization founded on the principles of respect for the law, observance of cardinal Christian virtues, loyalty to government, and practical exemplification of brotherhood. Later in June 1921, the name was changed to Liberty Life Assurance Company by deputy insurance commissioner Robert Davison and Frank Samford. In 1929, LNL was incorporated as a stock company and its name was changed to Liberty National Life Insurance Company.
The Liberty National Holding Company, created in 1979, expanded by acquiring United American, along with Globe Life and Accident Insurance Company and American Income Life. In the 1980s, the Liberty National Insurance Holding Company became Torchmark Corporation which then became Globe Life on August 8, 2019.


National Board of Medical Examiners

The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), founded in 1915, is a United States operation which sets state recognised examinations for medical students. The NBME is an independent, not-for-profit organization headquartered on and adjacent to the University City Science Center research campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NBME states that its mission is to "protect the health of the public through state of the art assessment of health professionals." The board emphasizes that "while NBME's mission is centered on assessment of physicians, this mission encompasses the spectrum of health professionals along the continuum of education, training and practice and includes research in evaluation as well as development of assessment instruments".
During COVID-19 pandemic and George Floyd Protests, the medical community criticized the NBME's refusal to revert Step 1 scoring to pass/fail before 2022 and for the gross mishandling of Step examinations during the pandemic, creating "chaos," further "disadvantages," "harm," "bias" and "inequity;" and called for an emergency committee (that included student representatives) who could address these issues in a timely manner without financial or other conflict of interests.
History.
The board rose in prominence in the years after World War II. Prior to the war, states administered their own exams, and operated agreements to license doctors passed by other state exams. After the war, states began to use the results of an NBME exam to decide whether to award a license. This system meant students would sit the same exam.
The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), introduced in 1992, is a multi-part professional exam sponsored by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the NBME, and must be passed before a Doctor of Medicine can obtain a license to practice medicine in the United States.
The NBME creates self-assessment exams for the programs it runs including USMLE Step 1 and USMLE Step 2 CK. As of February 2018, these assessment tests are available only in expanded feedback version costing $60 and displays the incorrectly answered questions in addition to the analytics. The assessments now provide the correct answer to questions in the expanded feedback version. Prior to this, students frequently discussed the questions among themselves on online forums to reach the correct answer. The latest NBME in the series of NBME tests is NBME 22, with three additional tests to be released in late Spring 2019.
Controversies.
Katsufrakis & Chaudhry comments against Step 1 changes.
In Dec 2018, NBME President Peter Katsufrakis and FSMB President Humayun Chaudhry wrote in opposition of USMLE Step 1 changes in
"from Improving Residency Selection Requires Close Study and Better Understanding of Stakeholder Needs":
"If students reduce time and effort devoted to preparing for Step 1, they may indeed devote attention to other activities that will prepare them to be good physicians. This would arguably be an ideal outcome of such a change. However, if students were to devote more time to activities that make them less prepared to provide quality care, such as binge-watching the most recent Netflix series or compulsively updating their Instagram account, this could negatively impact residency performance and ultimately patient safety. We know that assessment drives learning, so another concern resulting from a shift to pass/fail scoring may be a less knowledgeable physician population."
NBME Executive Salary.
The NBME executives received public criticism after their salaries were released after increasing costs for students, showing many executives receiving high said to seven figures.
"Former NBME President Dr. Melnick's compensation increased from $399,160 in 2001 to over $1.2 million in 2016, almost perfectly in parallel with the tripling of USMLE costs." "As of 2016, NBME President also gets free first-class airfare for himself and his travel partner, as well as a membership to a Philadelphia social club. According to the 2017 Form 990, Schedule J, two lower executives received total compensation over $700,000; another two over $600,000; another three receiving over $500,000; and another 6 receiving over $400,000...Yet, the total number of test-takers for the USMLE Step 1 has been essentially unchanged for the past 10-15 years."
Pricing.
NBME and USMLE were met with criticism when they announced their raising cost for standardized tests.
Kevin MD wrote, "Safeguards are needed to ensure fees for mandatory testing such as the USMLE do not exceed reasonable operating costs, particularly for financially vulnerable medical students."
As of 2020, the USMLE currently charges:
As of 2020, Student Assessments costs include:


School of Medicine (Trinity College Dublin)

The School of Medicine at the University of Dublin, Trinity College in Dublin, Republic of Ireland (known until 2005 as the School of Physic), is the oldest medical school in Ireland. Founded in the early eighteenth century, it was originally situated at the site of the current Berkeley Library. As well as providing an undergraduate degree in medicine, the school provides undergraduate courses in physiotherapy, occupational therapy, radiation therapy, human nutrition & dietetics and human health & disease, over 20 taught postgraduate courses, and research degrees.
History.
Medical training has taken place at Trinity College since the seventeenth century, originally on a rather unremarkable basis; extant records suggest that by 1616 only one medical degree had been conferred. In a letter to James Ussher in 1628, Provost William Bedell commented, "I suppose it hath been an error all this time to neglect the faculties of law and physic and attend only to the ordering of one poor College of Divines." From 1618 the post of "Medicus" had existed among the Fellows, this post later being formalised under Bedell's revised College statutes in 1628 and by Royal letters patent in 1637, but in practice the office was usually held by Junior Fellows who did not hold medical degrees and who participated in no real sense in medical education; for example, the first Fellow to be chosen Medicus, John Temple (son of the then-Provost of the College, Sir William Temple), went on to pursue a prominent legal career. The Public (later Regius) Professorship of Physic was for the most part used as ceremonial title for a practising doctor.
A 17th-century manuscript preserved in the Trinity College Library, describing the ceremonies accompanying conferral of degrees, makes no mention of graduates in medicine.
The first recorded named holder of a Dublin medical degree was John Stearne, a Trinity graduate who had trained as a doctor in England (possibly at Cambridge), and was appointed a Fellow upon returning to Trinity in 1651. From 1662 until his death in 1669 he was Professor of Physic, and during this time was instrumental in the foundation of a college of physicians, which later became the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland; this institution had originally functioned as a daughter institution of Trinity College, located at the former Trinity Hall on Hoggen Green (now College Green). Trinity Hall had been intended as a place of residence and tuition for students of the College, but a dispute arose, as the property fell into disuse and disrepair following the rebellion of 1641, and Dublin Corporation demanded its return, as the conditions by which the Corporation had provided it to the College were not being upheld. The matter was resolved by Stearne, who offered to raise funds to cover the costs of restoring the building (which the College could not afford at the time) as a daughter college for the education of physicians, with Stearne as its president, and with medical students there first becoming members of Trinity; the agreement stated "that the College should have the nomination of the President of the College of Physicians, and that the President and Fellows of that College should give their professional services without fees to the Provost and Senior Fellows of Trinity College and their successors whenever they should require them to attend them during illness."
A "Colledge of Physitians in Dublin" was thus granted a royal charter in 1667, but no records survive from the time of Stearne's death in 1669 to confirm whether medical students from Trinity were in residence, and in subsequent years the College of Physicians gained virtual independence from the university, largely due to the mother institution being unable to supply sufficient qualified physicians to administer it. The College was given the right of granting medical licences within a radius of seven miles of the city of Dublin. In 1692 it was rechartered as the King and Queen's College of Physicians in Ireland, and provision was made for representatives of the College to examine candidates for medical degrees of the University of Dublin—this arrangement persisting until 1760—and for holders of Dublin medical degrees to be admitted without further examination or fees to the College.
By the 18th century, the Board of the College was moved to urgently rectify and formalise the state of its pre-clinical medical education. In 1710 it approved both the construction of a two-storey "Elaboratory" to the west of College Park in Trinity (at the site of the current Berkeley Library), and the establishment of lectureships in anatomy, chemistry and botany. The building was designed by Thomas Burgh and was formally opened on 11 August of the following year with lecture facilities, a dissecting room, a museum and a chemical laboratory. For clinical training, students would then rely on tutorials from the Professor of Physic, and on lectures from same at the Royal College of Physicians. It was agreed with the College of Physicians that, in addition to the normal examinations for all students at the University, medical students would also be examined in "all parts of Anatomy relating to the "Œconomia Animalis", and in all parts of Botany, Chemistry, and Pharmacy, and that every candidate Doctor in Physic be examined as to the aforesaid subjects, and likewise in the explanation of Hippocrates' Aphorisms, and in the theory and cure of external and internal diseases."
A bequest drawn up in 1711 by the eminent physician Sir Patrick Dun provided for the endowment of further professorships of physic at Trinity, to be appointed jointly by Trinity, the College of Physicians and the Archbishop of Dublin. To allow this to be carried out, a royal charter was sought to establish the School of Physic under the joint government of both Colleges, and this was granted in 1715.
The school expanded significantly in the first half of the 20th century, with the establishment of professorships in pathology, bacteriology and biochemistry, and lecturerships in radiology, anaesthetics and psychological medicine, among others.
Alumni.
Notable alumni and former students include:


Josephus Struthius

Josephus Struthius (Polish: Józef Struś; 1510 in Poznań – between 27 July 1568 and 26 January 1569 in Poznań) was a Polish professor of medicine in Padua (1535–1537) and personal doctor of Polish kings. He also served as mayor of Poznań in 1557–1558 and 1558–1559. He wrote several books and was among the first to provide a visual representation of the human pulse and use it for diagnostic purposes.
Biography.
Struś was born to a maltmaker Mikołaj and Elżbieta, a daughter of the Mayor of Poznań. He was educated at the local school associated with the church of St. Mary Magdalene and then studied at the Collegium Lubranscianum before joining the Jagiellonian University. He was influenced by the German reformer Christopher Hegendorf (1500–1540) at the Collegium Lubrascianum. He studied at the faculty of philosophy for two years and then moved to the faculty of medicine in 1527. He continued studies and obtained a master's degree in 1531. He wrote on the astrology of Luciani Samosatensis. In 1532 he went to study medicine in Padua where he started examining the works of Galen and Hippocrates, translating their works from Greek to Latin. After receiving a doctoral degree in 1535 he joined the Padua University faculty. He taught numerous students and influenced Andreas Vesalius among them. In 1537 he moved to Poland and became a physician to Andrzej Górka. His treatment of Isabella Jagiellon, daughter of King Sigismund I the Old (1467–1548) brought him recognition. He was part of a delegation to Constantinople, where the Turkish Suleiman the Magnificent (1494–1566). His popularity in Padua led to his being mayor in 1557 and in 1558. He died at Poznań in 1568 during a plague epidemic and was buried in the Church of St. Mary Magdalene.
His conceptual approach to measurement of the pulse is regarded as pioneering and revolutionary. In "Sphygmicae artis iam mille ducentos annos perditae et desideratae libri V." (first published 1540 in Basel, but only copies from 1555 are accessible) he described five types of pulses, the diagnostic meaning of those types, and the influence of body temperature and nervous system on pulse. As a memory aid he used the palm and fingers to the types of pulse. It contains probably the earliest graphic presentation of the pulse. He also noted that the pulse could be used to detect lies and reactions of people. This was one of books used by William Harvey in his works.
Robert Burton wrote of Josephus Struthius in "The Anatomy of Melancholy": "Josephus Struthis, that Polonian, in the fifth book, _cap. 17._ of his Doctrine of Pulses, holds that [...] passions of the mind may be discovered by the pulse."


Henry Radcliffe Crocker

Henry Radcliffe Crocker, MD, FRCP (6 March 1846 – 22 August 1909) was an English dermatologist. Originally from Hove in Sussex, England, Crocker started his working life as an apprentice to a general practitioner before going to London to attend the University College Hospital medical school. Working as a resident medical officer with William Tilbury Fox, Crocker began a lifelong career in dermatology. With his 1888 book "Diseases of the Skin: their Description, Pathology, Diagnosis and Treatment", he became known as a leading figure of dermatology.
Early life.
Crocker was born in 1846 in Hove, Sussex to Henry and Maria (née Walters) Crocker. His father was a chemist, a career that Crocker at first sought to take up. At 16, he left his private school in Brighton to take up an apprenticeship with a general practitioner in Silverdale, Staffordshire. In 1870 he became a student at University College Hospital medical school in London. He worked part-time as a drug dispenser in Sloane Street. As an undergraduate student, Crocker won gold medals in materia medica, clinical medicine and forensic medicine, as well as a university scholarship. Crocker was generally known by his middle name, Radcliffe, and throughout his career this was sometimes mistaken as the first part of his surname.
Medical career.
After receiving his Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS) qualification, Bachelor of Science degree and then in 1875 his MD, Crocker obtained a position as resident obstetric physician and physician's assistant at University College Hospital. He then held posts at the Brompton Hospital for Consumption and Diseases of the Chest and Charing Cross Hospital before returning to University College Hospital as resident medical officer. He worked under dermatologist William Tilbury Fox, and began to develop his own dermatological career as assistant medical officer in the hospital's dermatology department. At this time, the practice of specialising in medicine was somewhat frowned upon in the United Kingdom (although more popular in continental Europe), but Tilbury Fox and Crocker were credited with bringing some structure to the field of dermatology.
From 1877, Crocker was a member (and later a fellow) of the Royal College of Physicians. Following the death of Tilbury Fox in 1879, Crocker succeeded him as physician in the department of dermatology at University College Hospital. In this position, Crocker was able to devote himself to the study of the skin and its diseases. Although a specialist, in his clinical work, he emphasised the value of treating the whole patient. His research concentrated on the epidemiology of skin diseases and histology, noting the importance of microscopic inspection of skin cells. During his career, he was the first to describe or name diseases such as granuloma annulare and erythema elevatum diutinum.
In 1888, Crocker published "Diseases of the Skin: their Description, Pathology, Diagnosis and Treatment", a textbook that helped to establish him as a leading figure in dermatology.
Diagnosis of the "Elephant Man".
At a meeting of the Pathological Society of London in 1885, Crocker was the first to put forward a theory on the condition of Joseph Merrick, known as the Elephant Man. Merrick was not present at the meeting, but surgeon Frederick Treves, who had examined him, showed photographs. Crocker had also had the opportunity to view Merrick the previous year when he was exhibited at a freak shop on Whitechapel Road. Crocker suggested that Merrick's condition was caused by a combination of dermatolysis and bone deformities, as a result of changes in his nervous system. Crocker included a description of the case of Joseph Merrick in his book, "Diseases of the Skin: their Description, Pathology, Diagnosis and Treatment".
Personal life.
Crocker married Constance Mary Fussell on 3 April 1880. She was the daughter of Edward Francis Fussell, a medical officer and doctor at Sussex County Hospital. They had no children.
He died on 22 August 1909, aged 63, while on holiday in Engelberg, a village in Switzerland. The cause of death was heart failure.


Mycoplasma pneumonia

"Mycoplasma" pneumonia (also known as "walking pneumonia") is a form of bacterial pneumonia caused by the bacterial species "Mycoplasma pneumoniae". It is also known as PPLO, which is an acronym for Pleuro Pneumonia Like Organism.
Pathophysiology.
"Mycoplasma pneumoniae" is spread through respiratory droplet transmission. Once attached to the mucosa of a host organism, "M. pneumoniae" extracts nutrients, grows, and reproduces by binary fission. Attachment sites include the upper and lower respiratory tract, causing pharyngitis, bronchitis, and pneumonia. The infection caused by this bacterium is called atypical pneumonia because of its protracted course and lack of sputum production and wealth of extrapulmonary symptoms. Chronic "Mycoplasma" infections have been implicated in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis and other rheumatological diseases.
"Mycoplasma" atypical pneumonia can be complicated by Stevens–Johnson syndrome, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, cardiovascular diseases, encephalitis, or Guillain–Barré syndrome.
Diagnosis.
"M. pneumoniae" infections can be differentiated from other types of pneumonia by the relatively slow progression of symptoms. A positive blood test for cold-hemagglutinins in 50–70% of patients after 10 days of infection (cold-hemagglutinin-test should be used with caution or not at all, since 50% of the tests are false-positive), lack of bacteria in a Gram-stained sputum sample, and a lack of growth on blood agar.
PCR has also been used.
Treatment.
While antibiotics with activity specifically against "M. pneumoniae" are often used (e.g., erythromycin, doxycycline), it is unclear if these result in greater benefit than using antibiotics without specific activity against this organism in those with an infection acquired in the community.


List of target antigens in pemphigoid

Circulating auto-antibodies in the human body can target normal parts of the skin leading to disease. This is a list of antigens in the skin that may become targets of circulating auto-antibodies leading to the various types of pemphigoid.
Of note, there are also several other diseases that are caused by auto-antibodies that target the same anatomic area of the skin which is termed the basement membrane zone. These diseases include:


Radiography

Radiography is an imaging technique using X-rays, gamma rays, or similar ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation to view the internal form of an object. Applications of radiography include medical radiography ("diagnostic" and "therapeutic") and industrial radiography. Similar techniques are used in airport security (where "body scanners" generally use backscatter X-ray). To create an image in conventional radiography, a beam of X-rays is produced by an X-ray generator and is projected toward the object. A certain amount of the X-rays or other radiation is absorbed by the object, dependent on the object's density and structural composition. The X-rays that pass through the object are captured behind the object by a detector (either photographic film or a digital detector). The generation of flat two dimensional images by this technique is called projectional radiography. In computed tomography (CT scanning) an X-ray source and its associated detectors rotate around the subject which itself moves through the conical X-ray beam produced. Any given point within the subject is crossed from many directions by many different beams at different times. Information regarding attenuation of these beams is collated and subjected to computation to generate two dimensional images in three planes (axial, coronal, and sagittal) which can be further processed to produce a three dimensional image.
Medical uses.
Since the body is made up of various substances with differing densities, Ionising and non-ionising radiation can be used to reveal the internal structure of the body on an image receptor by highlighting these differences using attenuation, or in the case of ionising radiation, the absorption of X-ray photons by the denser substances (like calcium-rich bones). The discipline involving the study of anatomy through the use of radiographic images is known as radiographic anatomy. Medical radiography acquisition is generally carried out by radiographers, while image analysis is generally done by radiologists. Some radiographers also specialise in image interpretation. Medical radiography includes a range of modalities producing many different types of image, each of which has a different clinical application.
Projectional radiography.
The creation of images by exposing an object to X-rays or other high-energy forms of electromagnetic radiation and capturing the resulting remnant beam (or "shadow") as a latent image is known as "projection radiography." The "shadow" may be converted to light using a fluorescent screen, which is then captured on photographic film, it may be captured by a phosphor screen to be "read" later by a laser (CR), or it may directly activate a matrix of solid-state detectors (DR—similar to a very large version of a CCD in a digital camera). Bone and some organs (such as lungs) especially lend themselves to projection radiography. It is a relatively low-cost investigation with a high diagnostic yield. The difference between "soft" and "hard" body parts stems mostly from the fact that carbon has a very low X-ray cross section compared to calcium.
Computed tomography.
Computed tomography or CT scan (previously known as CAT scan, the "A" standing for "axial") uses ionizing radiation (x-ray radiation) in conjunction with a computer to create images of both soft and hard tissues. These images look as though the patient was sliced like bread (thus, "tomography"-- "tomo" means "slice"). Though CT uses a higher amount of ionizing x-radiation than diagnostic x-rays (both utilising X-ray radiation), with advances in technology, levels of CT radiation dose and scan times have reduced. CT exams are generally short, most lasting only as long as a breath-hold, Contrast agents are also often used, depending on the tissues needing to be seen. Radiographers perform these examinations, sometimes in conjunction with a radiologist (for instance, when a radiologist performs a CT-guided biopsy).
Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry.
DEXA, or bone densitometry, is used primarily for osteoporosis tests. It is not projection radiography, as the X-rays are emitted in 2 narrow beams that are scanned across the patient, 90 degrees from each other. Usually the hip (head of the femur), lower back (lumbar spine), or heel (calcaneum) are imaged, and the bone density (amount of calcium) is determined and given a number (a T-score). It is not used for bone imaging, as the image quality is not good enough to make an accurate diagnostic image for fractures, inflammation, etc. It can also be used to measure total body fat, though this is not common. The radiation dose received from DEXA scans is very low, much lower than projection radiography examinations.
Fluoroscopy.
Fluoroscopy is a term invented by Thomas Edison during his early X-ray studies. The name refers to the fluorescence he saw while looking at a glowing plate bombarded with X-rays.
The technique provides moving projection radiographs. Fluoroscopy is mainly performed to view movement (of tissue or a contrast agent), or to guide a medical intervention, such as angioplasty, pacemaker insertion, or joint repair/replacement. The latter can often be carried out in the operating theatre, using a portable fluoroscopy machine called a C-arm. It can move around the surgery table and make digital images for the surgeon. Biplanar Fluoroscopy works the same as single plane fluoroscopy except displaying two planes at the same time. The ability to work in two planes is important for orthopedic and spinal surgery and can reduce operating times by eliminating re-positioning.
Angiography.
Angiography is the use of fluoroscopy to view the cardiovascular system. An iodine-based contrast is injected into the bloodstream and watched as it travels around. Since liquid blood and the vessels are not very dense, a contrast with high density (like the large iodine atoms) is used to view the vessels under X-ray. Angiography is used to find aneurysms, leaks, blockages (thromboses), new vessel growth, and placement of catheters and stents. Balloon angioplasty is often done with angiography.
Contrast radiography.
Contrast radiography uses a radiocontrast agent, a type of contrast medium, to make the structures of interest stand out visually from their background. Contrast agents are required in conventional angiography, and can be used in both projectional radiography and computed tomography (called "contrast CT").
Other medical imaging.
Although not technically radiographic techniques due to not using X-rays, imaging modalities such as PET and MRI are sometimes grouped in radiography because the radiology department of hospitals handle all forms of imaging. Treatment using radiation is known as radiotherapy.
Industrial radiography.
Industrial radiography is a method of non-destructive testing where many types of manufactured components can be examined to verify the internal structure and integrity of the specimen. Industrial Radiography can be performed utilizing either X-rays or gamma rays. Both are forms of electromagnetic radiation. The difference between various forms of electromagnetic energy is related to the wavelength. X and gamma rays have the shortest wavelength and this property leads to the ability to penetrate, travel through, and exit various materials such as carbon steel and other metals. Specific methods include industrial computed tomography.
Image quality.
Image quality will depend on resolution and density.
Resolution is the ability an image to show closely spaced structure in the object as separate entities in the image while density is the blackening power of the image.
Sharpness of a radiographic image is strongly determined by the size of the X-ray source. This is determined by the area of the electron beam hitting the anode.
A large photon source results in more blurring in the final image and is worsened by an increase in image formation distance. This blurring can be measured as a contribution to the modulation transfer function of the imaging system.
Radiation dose.
The dosage of radiation applied in radiography varies by procedure. For example, the effective dosage of a chest x-ray is 0.1 mSv, while an abdominal CT is 10 mSv. The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) have stated that the "risks of medical imaging at patient doses below 50 mSv for single procedures or 100 mSv for multiple procedures over short time periods are too low to be detectable and may be nonexistent." Other scientific bodies sharing this conclusion include the International Organization of Medical Physicists, the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, and the International Commission on Radiological Protection. Nonetheless, radiological organizations, including the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and the American College of Radiology (ACR), as well as multiple government agencies, indicate safety standards to ensure that radiation dosage is as low as possible.
Shielding.
Lead is the most common shield against X-rays because of its high density (11340 kg/m3), stopping power, ease of installation and low cost. The maximum range of a high-energy photon such as an X-ray in matter is infinite; at every point in the matter traversed by the photon, there is a probability of interaction. Thus there is a very small probability of no interaction over very large distances. The shielding of photon beam is therefore exponential (with an attenuation length being close to the radiation length of the material); doubling the thickness of shielding will square the shielding effect.
The following table shows the recommended thickness of lead shielding in function of X-ray energy, from the Recommendations by the Second International Congress of Radiology.
Campaigns.
In response to increased concern by the public over radiation doses and the ongoing progress of best practices, The Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging was formed within the Society for Pediatric Radiology. In concert with the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, the American College of Radiology, and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, the Society for Pediatric Radiology developed and launched the Image Gently campaign which is designed to maintain high quality imaging studies while using the lowest doses and best radiation safety practices available on pediatric patients. This initiative has been endorsed and applied by a growing list of various professional medical organizations around the world and has received support and assistance from companies that manufacture equipment used in radiology.
Following upon the success of the Image Gently campaign, the American College of Radiology, the Radiological Society of North America, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, and the American Society of Radiologic Technologists have launched a similar campaign to address this issue in the adult population called Image Wisely. The World Health Organization and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the United Nations have also been working in this area and have ongoing projects designed to broaden best practices and lower patient radiation dose.
Provider payment.
Contrary to advice that emphasises only conducting radiographs when in the patient's interest, recent evidence suggests that they are used more frequently when dentists are paid under fee-for-service
Equipment.
Sources.
In medicine and dentistry, projectional radiography and computed tomography images generally use X-rays created by X-ray generators, which generate X-rays from X-ray tubes. The resultant images from the radiograph (X-ray generator/machine) or CT scanner are correctly referred to as "radiograms"/"roentgenograms" and "tomograms" respectively.
A number of other sources of X-ray photons are possible, and may be used in industrial radiography or research; these include betatrons, and linear accelerators (linacs) and synchrotrons. For gamma rays, radioactive sources such as 192Ir, 60Co or 137Cs are used.
Grid.
A Bucky-Potter grid may be placed between the patient and the detector to reduce the quantity of scattered x-rays that reach the detector. This improves the contrast resolution of the image, but also increases radiation exposure for the patient.
Detectors.
Detectors can be divided into two major categories: imaging detectors (such as photographic plates and X-ray film (photographic film), now mostly replaced by various digitizing devices like image plates or flat panel detectors) and dose measurement devices (such as ionization chambers, Geiger counters, and dosimeters used to measure the local radiation exposure, dose, and/or dose rate, for example, for verifying that radiation protection equipment and procedures are effective on an ongoing basis).
Side markers.
A radiopaque anatomical side marker is added to each image. For example, if the patient has their right hand x-rayed, the radiographer includes a radiopaque "R" marker within the field of the x-ray beam as an indicator of which hand has been imaged. If a physical marker is not included, the radiographer may add the correct side marker later as part of digital post-processing.
Image intensifiers and array detectors.
As an alternative to X-ray detectors, image intensifiers are analog devices that readily convert the acquired X-ray image into one visible on a video screen. This device is made of a vacuum tube with a wide input surface coated on the inside with caesium iodide (CsI). When hit by X-rays material phosphors which causes the photocathode adjacent to it to emit electrons. These electron are then focus using electron lenses inside the intensifier to an output screen coated with phosphorescent materials. The image from the output can then be recorded via a camera and displayed.
Digital devices known as array detectors are becoming more common in fluoroscopy. These devices are made of discrete pixelated detectors known as thin-film transistors (TFT) which can either work "indirectly" by using photo detectors that detect light emitted from a scintillator material such as CsI, or "directly" by capturing the electrons produced when the X-rays hit the detector. Direct detector do not tend to experience the blurring or spreading effect caused by phosphorescent scintillators of or film screens since the detectors are activated directly by X-ray photons.
Dual-energy.
"Dual-energy" radiography is where images are acquired using two separate tube voltages. This is the standard method for bone densitometry. It is also used in CT pulmonary angiography to decrease the required dose of iodinated contrast.
History.
Radiography's origins and fluoroscopy's origins can both be traced to 8 November 1895, when German physics professor Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered the X-ray and noted that, while it could pass through human tissue, it could not pass through bone or metal. Röntgen referred to the radiation as "X", to indicate that it was an unknown type of radiation. He received the first Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery.
There are conflicting accounts of his discovery because Röntgen had his lab notes burned after his death, but this is a likely reconstruction by his biographers: Röntgen was investigating cathode rays using a fluorescent screen painted with barium platinocyanide and a Crookes tube which he had wrapped in black cardboard to shield its fluorescent glow. He noticed a faint green glow from the screen, about 1 metre away. Röntgen realized some invisible rays coming from the tube were passing through the cardboard to make the screen glow: they were passing through an opaque object to affect the film behind it.
Röntgen discovered X-rays' medical use when he made a picture of his wife's hand on a photographic plate formed due to X-rays. The photograph of his wife's hand was the first ever photograph of a human body part using X-rays. When she saw the picture, she said, "I have seen my death."
The first use of X-rays under clinical conditions was by John Hall-Edwards in Birmingham, England on 11 January 1896, when he radiographed a needle stuck in the hand of an associate. On 14 February 1896, Hall-Edwards also became the first to use X-rays in a surgical operation.
The United States saw its first medical X-ray obtained using a discharge tube of Ivan Pulyui's design. In January 1896, on reading of Röntgen's discovery, Frank Austin of Dartmouth College tested all of the discharge tubes in the physics laboratory and found that only the Pulyui tube produced X-rays. This was a result of Pulyui's inclusion of an oblique "target" of mica, used for holding samples of fluorescent material, within the tube. On 3 February 1896 Gilman Frost, professor of medicine at the college, and his brother Edwin Frost, professor of physics, exposed the wrist of Eddie McCarthy, whom Gilman had treated some weeks earlier for a fracture, to the X-rays and collected the resulting image of the broken bone on gelatin photographic plates obtained from Howard Langill, a local photographer also interested in Röntgen's work.
X-rays were put to diagnostic use very early; for example, Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton opened a radiographic laboratory in the United Kingdom in 1896, before the dangers of ionizing radiation were discovered. Indeed, Marie Curie pushed for radiography to be used to treat wounded soldiers in World War I. Initially, many kinds of staff conducted radiography in hospitals, including physicists, photographers, physicians, nurses, and engineers. The medical speciality of radiology grew up over many years around the new technology. When new diagnostic tests were developed, it was natural for the Radiographers to be trained in and to adopt this new technology. Radiographers now perform fluoroscopy, computed tomography, mammography, ultrasound, nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging as well. Although a nonspecialist dictionary might define radiography quite narrowly as "taking X-ray images", this has long been only part of the work of "X-ray departments", radiographers, and radiologists. Initially, radiographs were known as roentgenograms, while "Skiagrapher" (from the Ancient Greek words for "shadow" and "writer") was used until about 1918 to mean "Radiographer". The Japanese term for the radiograph, レントゲン (rentogen), shares its etymology with the original English term.


Tsering Landol

Tsering Landol is an Indian gynecologist and one of the pioneers of women's health in the Ladakh Union Territory of India. She served at the Sonam Norboo Memorial Government Hospital, Leh and is also associated with other educational institutions. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2006, and Padma Bhusan in 2020 for her contributions to Indian medicine, making her one of the few woman recipients of the award from Jammu and Kashmir and the first Ladakhi woman doctor to receive the honour. She is also featured on the 'Wall of Fame' which features those who have exhibited excellence throughout their career or existence have exemplified glory and greatness. The Wall recognizes those individuals and teams which have attained high achievement and/or made a significant contribution to society. Landol is featured in "The Song Collector", a documentary film on the life of the renowned Ladakhi folk musician, Morup Namgyal. She was awarded Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award in India in the year 2020.


Charles Gilbert Chaddock

Charles Gilbert Chaddock (1861–1936) was an American neurologist remembered for describing the Chaddock reflex.
Biography.
Charles Gilbert Chaddock was born in 1861 in Jonesville, Michigan. He qualified in medicine in 1885, and worked at the North Michigan Asylum in Traverse City. He spent a year studying in Europe in 1888. He became Professor of neurology and psychiatry at the Marion-Sims College of St. Louis University. He returned to Europe in 1897, spending most of the time as assistant to Joseph Babinski. On his return to the United States in 1899 he introduced American physicians to Babinski's sign, later publishing a translation of Babinski's work.
Legacy.
Chaddock introduced his eponymous reflex in 1911, calling it the "External Malleolar sign". He also described an analogous sign in the upper limb. He is also credited with the first use of the word homosexual in the English language, as well as the first use of the word bisexual in its sense of being sexually attracted to both women and men, in his translation of Richard von Krafft-Ebing's "Psychopathia Sexualis" in 1892. Prior to Richard von Krafft-Ebing's new use of the term, "bisexual" was usually used to refer to hermaphroditic plants, that is having both male and female reproductive structures, or to refer to mixed-sex situations such as schools.


Manoj Duraisingh

Manoj Duraisingh is a British molecular parasitologist currently the John LaPorte Given Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.


C. Frank Bennett

C. Frank Bennett is an American pharmacologist. Bennett is currently the Senior Vice President of Research and Neurology Franchise Leader at Ionis Pharmaceuticals. He is a 2019 Breakthrough Prize winner in Life Sciences, which he shared with his collaborator Adrian R. Krainer for the development of an effective antisense oligonucleotide therapy for children with the neurodegenerative disease spinal muscular atrophy.
Early life and education.
C. Frank Bennett grew up in Aztec, New Mexico, where his family owned a small hotel. Bennett holds a bachelor's degree in Pharmacy from the University of New Mexico and obtained a PhD in Pharmacology in 1985 from Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. Bennett completed a postdoctoral fellowship at SmithKline & French Laboratories with Stanley T. Crooke.
Career.
Bennett is one of the founding members of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in Carlsbad, California. He has been involved in the development of antisense oligonucleotides as therapeutic agents, including research on the application of oligonucleotides for inflammatory diseases and cancer, oligonucleotide delivery, pharmacokinetics and medicinal chemistry. Notably, Bennett led the development of antisense technology for the treatment of neurological diseases, including nusinersen, a treatment for Spinal Muscular Atrophy, and several antisense drugs in clinical trials for Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Bennett has published more than 200 papers on antisense technology and has more than 175 issued U.S. Patents. Bennett was the co-recipient of the 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences and the recipient of the Leslie Gehry Brenner Prize for Innovation in Science awarded by the Hereditary Disease Foundation (2018).


Douglas Fearon

Douglas Thomas Fearon FRS FRCP FMedSci (born 16 October 1942) is an American medical immunologist, who has been since 2003 Sheila Joan Smith Professor of Immunology at the University of Cambridge, a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and a professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Awards and honours.
Fearon was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1999 and is also member of the United States National Academy of Sciences. His nomination for the Royal Society reads:


Henri Claude

Henri Charles Jules Claude (31 March 1869 – 29 November 1945) was a French psychiatrist and neurologist born in Paris.
He studied medicine under Charles-Joseph Bouchard (1837-1915), and was an assistant to Fulgence Raymond (1844-1910) at the Salpêtrière Hospital. From 1922 until 1939, he served as chair of mental illness and brain diseases at the Hôpital Sainte-Anne in Paris, where he was succeeded by Maxime Laignel-Lavastine.
Henri Claude played a leading role in introducing Freudian theories of psychoanalysis into French psychiatry. He was responsible for the creation of the first laboratory of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis at the school of medicine at the University of Paris.
His name is lent to the eponymous "Claude syndrome", which is a midbrain syndrome characterized by oculomotor palsy on the side of the lesion and ataxia on the opposite side. Also "Claude's hyperkinesis sign" is named after him — a medical sign used to describe reflex movements of paretic muscles elicited by painful stimuli.


Merrill Carlsmith

James Merrill Carlsmith (April 12, 1936 – April 19, 1984) was an American social psychologist perhaps best known for his collaboration with Leon Festinger and Elliot Aronson in the creation and development of cognitive dissonance theory. He also worked extensively with Mark Lepper on the subject of attribution theory. With Jonathan L. Freedman and David O. Sears (his cousin) he wrote the textbook, "Social Psychology" (1970; subsequent editions published 1974, 1978, and 1981).
Carlsmith was married to social psychologist Lyn Carlsmith (born Karolyn Gai Kuckenberg, October 7, 1932 – September 1, 2011) from 1963 until his death, and had three children: Christopher, Kimberly, and Kevin (October 17, 1967 – November 19, 2011). He graduated from Stanford University and Harvard University.


Paul Splittorff

Paul William Splittorff Jr. (; October 8, 1946 – May 25, 2011) was a Major League Baseball starting pitcher who spent his entire career with the Kansas City Royals. Listed at , Splittorff batted and threw left-handed.
Early years.
Splittorff was born in Evansville, Indiana and grew up mostly in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Arlington High School produced several major league baseball players, including Fritz Peterson, Dick Bokelmann, and George Vukovich.
Peterson and Splittorff pitched against each other twice during their careers, with Peterson winning both matchups. On August 17, 1971, the Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 2-0 at Yankee Stadium (in the days before the designated hitter, both pitchers went 0-2 at the plate), and on August 22, 1975 at the old Royals Stadium, the Indians beat the Royals, 9-5.
He was drafted by the Royals in the 25th round of the 1968 Major League Baseball Draft out of Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, where he was a member of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity and also played basketball. He pitched for the Corning Royals in 1968 (a year before the major league club existed), and has the distinction of throwing the first pitch in Royals organization history. He went 28–27 with a 4.01 earned run average in three seasons in the Royals' farm system before receiving his first call to the majors in September . He took the loss in his major league debut, pitching seven innings and giving up three earned runs against the Chicago White Sox.
Kansas City Royals.
Splittorff began the season with the Omaha Royals, but after going 5–2 with a 1.48 ERA in eight starts for Omaha, he earned a second promotion to the majors. He stayed with Kansas City for the rest of the season, going 8–9 with a 2.68 ERA.
From there, he became a fixture in the Kansas City rotation. He enjoyed his only 20-win season in , when he went 20–11 with a 3.98 ERA. Splittorff was the starting pitcher in the inaugural game at Kauffman Stadium (known at the time as Royals Stadium) on April 10, 1973; Splittorff earned the victory that evening in a 12–1 rout of the Texas Rangers. After finishing second to the Oakland Athletics three of his first five seasons in the majors, Splittorff and the Royals emerged as American League West champions in .
Kansas City faced the New York Yankees in every American League Championship Series from 1976 to , with the Yankees emerging victorious in all three. For his part, Splittorff was 2–0 with a 2.84 ERA against the Yankees in the five appearances he made against them in the ALCS. After both teams missed the playoffs in , the Royals and Yankees resumed their postseason rivalry in the 1980 American League Championship Series. Kansas City swept the series, with Splittorff starting the third and deciding game, and receiving a no-decision. The Royals lost the World Series in six games to the Philadelphia Phillies with Splittorff making his only appearance in game six.
Never an All-Star and usually overshadowed by teammates Steve Busby, Dennis Leonard and Larry Gura, Splittorff's consistency and longevity resulted in his winning more games than any of them. Splittorff accumulated 166 career victories over a 15-year career with the Royals. Primarily a starter, Splittorff did pick up one save during his career. On July 22, 1975, in the first game of a doubleheader, he saved a 3-2 Royals victory over the Brewers. Splittorff pitched 1 2/3rd scoreless innings to hold down the victory for Steve Busby.
Splittorff retired when his effectiveness faded. At the same time, the Royals had numerous young pitchers coming through the ranks. His final game was on June 26, .
Personal life.
After his retirement, Splittorff became a television color commentator for the Royals. He was inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame in . He also worked as an analyst for Big Eight and Big 12 college basketball telecasts.
On May 16, 2011, Splittorff's battle with oral cancer and melanoma became public. Nine days later, on the morning of May 25, he died in his Blue Springs, Missouri, home at the age of 64.


British College of Nurses

The British College of Nurses was set up in 1926 by Ethel Bedford Fenwick in order to offer its members professional education and support of various kinds. It was to be run by nurses, for nurses, in a democratic manner. Fenwick had many supporters but the College only lasted for thirty years.
It was a rival to what is now the Royal College of Nursing which used to be partly controlled by public figures and other people without direct experience of nursing. The British College of Nurses (BCN) was governed by a Council "formed of Registered Nurses only". Fenwick was determined that "no employers of Nurses, nor any member of an employing body", should have a seat on the Council. The BCN was an educational organisation with a postgraduate college and it offered opportunities for professional development. It awarded Fellowships (FBCN) and Diplomas in nursing.
The BCN also offered legal protection and more personal help when needed. It was well funded by an anonymous donor who had been encouraged by Fenwick's husband, Dr. Bedford Fenwick. He acted as trustee and treasurer, while Mrs. Bedford Fenwick was the president.
The aims of the College were "efficient professional and civic education, economic security, legal protection, social and benevolent help". Ethel Bedford Fenwick died in 1947 and the BCN closed in 1956.


Tadeusz Krwawicz

Tadeusz Krwawicz (15 January 1910 – 17 August 1988) was a Polish ophthalmologist. He pioneered the use of cryosurgery in ophthalmology.
He was the first to describe a method of cataract extraction by cryoadhesion in 1961, and to develop a probe by means of which cataracts can be grasped and extracted.
The Tadeusz Krwawicz Gold Medal is awarded by the International Council of Ophthalmology Board every four years.
External links.
 A. Wróbel. Tadeusz Krwawicz (1910-1988). PAN Lublin.


Richard Barohn

Richard J. Barohn is an American neurologist currently the University Distinguished Professor and Gertrude & Dewey Ziegler Professor at University of Kansas and formerly the Lois C.A. and Darwin E. Smith Distinguished Chair at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and is an Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology.


Neonatal acne

Neonatal acne, also known as acne neonatorum, is an acneiform eruption that occurs in newborns or infants within the first 4-6 weeks of life, and presents with open and closed comedones on the cheeks, chin and forehead.
The main cause is not known for certain but it may be caused by maternal androgens transferred from the mother to the newborn from the placenta and androgens produced by the fetal adrenal gland and neonatal testicles that stimulate sebaceous glands to increase production of sebum. As a self-limiting condition, neonatal acne tends to resolve on its own but treatment options can include topical benzoyl peroxide, topical retinoids, topical antibiotics and topical antifungals.
Signs and Symptoms.
Neonatal acne presents from birth to within the first 4-6 weeks of life. Common symptoms are open and closed comedones such as papules and pustules that occur most commonly on the face on the areas of the cheeks, chin and forehead. Less commonly, lesions can be present on the chest and back.
Causes.
It is believed that maternal androgens passed to the infant through the placenta has a role in stimulating sebaceous glands leading to increased sebum production that causes comedone formation. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) produced from the fetal adrenal gland and androgen production from neonatal testicles may also stimulate sebum production from sebaceous glands.
The role of genetics is unclear but a positive family history supports association with neonatal acne.
Some researchers suggest the role of "Malassezia" colonization causing hypersensitivity reactions in skin but this tends to be linked to neonatal cephalic pustulosis more so than neonatal acne.
Diagnosis.
A work up is suggested in cases of severe acneiform eruptions or with signs of growth abnormalities to rule out potential endocrine diseases, tumor formation, or gonadal development abnormalities. A referral to a pediatric endocrinologist may be warranted.
Differential Diagnosis.
Other causes of acneiform eruptions such as those induced by the use of topical products like creams, ointments and shampoos on the skin are often ruled out before diagnosis. Maternal medications like lithium and high dose corticosteroids may also induce formulation of pustules in newborns and can be assessed with a thorough family history. Likewise, newborns can be assessed for infection whether bacterial, fungal or viral in nature. Erythema toxicum neonatorum, neonatal cephalic pustulosis, transient neonatal pustular melanosis, folliculitis, miliaria and milia are often ruled out before diagnosis.
Some experts consider neonatal cephalic pustulosis (NCP) a form of neonatal acne while others do not. NCP presents with facial papules and pustules but no comedones. NCP has been linked to "Malassezia" colonization, a normal yeast found on skin, but inconsistent patterns of positive colonization and NCP suggests that "Malassezia" hypersensitivity reactions in susceptible newborns are the cause of the acneiform eruptions rather than colonization itself.
Treatment.
Neonatal acne will typically resolve by itself in 2-6 months. In mild cases, cleansing the face daily with gentle soap and water while avoiding use of potential comedogenic soaps, lotions and oils is often enough. Further treatment is not necessary but in severe or persistent cases topical therapy can be initiated.
Benzoyl Peroxide.
Topical benzoyl peroxide (BPO) may be indicated in persistent or inflammatory cases. BPO is a lipophilic agent that penetrates into sebaceous glands and generates reactive oxygen species that kill "P. acnes." It also has comedolytic and anti-inflammatory properties and can prevent development of antimicrobial resistance.
Topical Retinoids.
Topical retinoids can be used alone or in combination with BPO. Retinoids are derived from vitamin A. They bind to retinoic receptors to normalize the rate of keratinocyte growth and prevent inflammation. Overactive keratinocyte production can lead to comedone formation.
Topical Antibiotics.
In cases where scarring is a concern, topical antibiotics may be recommended. Topical clindamycin and erythromycin are the most commonly prescribed options for acne. Antibiotics kill "P. acnes" on skin that could be causing inflammation. With the emergence of resistant "P. acnes", experts recommend topical antibiotics to be used in combination with BPO to reduce the risk of development of antimicrobial resistance. The most common side effects of topical antibiotics are stinging, burning and redness at the site of application.
Topical antifungals.
Some experts suggest the use of topical ketoconazole in newborns with more pustular neonatal acne as there is evidence it shortens duration of lesions. This may be in cases more suggestive of neonatal cephalic pustulosis than neonatal acne.
Epidemiology.
20% of newborns will develop neonatal acne however there has been debate if this is an accurate representation of actual diagnosed cases of acne as this could other acneiform eruptions that do not present with comedones like neonatal cephalic pustulosis. Neonatal acne occurs more often in boys than in girls.


Anton Elschnig

Anton Elschnig (22 August 1863 – 1939) was an ophthalmologist born in Leibnitz, Austria.
In 1886, he received his medical doctorate at the University of Graz, and later worked as an assistant at ophthalmology clinics in Graz and Vienna. In 1892 he obtained his habilitation at Graz, and from 1907 to 1933 was a full professor and head of the eye clinic at the University of Prague.
He is best known for performing corneal transplants in the early days of keratoplasty, being credited with developing a method introduced by Arthur von Hippel (1841-1916). Elschnig described this surgical procedure in the "Archives of Ophthalmology" (1930, 4: 165-173).
He was the publisher of the second and third editions of the Graefe-Saemisch "Handbuch der gesammten Augenheilkunde".


Cragie tube

The Cragie tube or Craigie tube is a method used in microbiology for determining bacterial motility.
Technique.
A hollow tube with some culture medium is placed in semi-solid agar inside a bottle. A sample of the bacterium to be tested is inoculated into the medium in the hollow tube and the setup is incubated at 37 °C overnight.
Observation.
On examining the areas where bacterial growth has occurred there are several observations to be made:
Confirmation may be obtained by subculture and retesting.


George Naicker

George Naicker (1 June 1919 – 8 April 1998) was a prominent South African anti-apartheid activist of Indian Tamil descent. He was one of six sons. His mother died while in prison on Robben Island.
Early days with Indian National Congress.
Billy Nair, whose association with Naicker dated from 1950 when he was a branch member of the Seaview, Bellair, Hilary and Umhlatuzana area of the Natal Indian Congress, says that Naicker was a delegate to the Congress of the People and joined the South African Communist Party in 1955/56, i.e. in its illegal period. The party had been banned at the time by the South African government.
Incarceration on Robben Island.
Prior to his arrest in July, 1963 he was employed as a legal clerk at the late G.S. Naidoo's office in Queen Street. While the constitution of the ANC made membership exclusive to Africans, Naicker from his daily work in a legal office knew the mind-boggling quality of the oppression and deprivation visited on African life. Ndabazabantu courts is where you would find Naicker regularly. Long after he went to Robben Island his clients were searching for him not believing that he was in prison.
Sunny Singh (ex-Robben Islander) states that he met Naicker of NIC Youth Congress and was a Youth Delegate to the World Youth Festival (in Hungary).
In 1964, charged with sabotage and other charges, he was sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. He served his 14-year sentence to the day and returned home to further restrictions and house arrest orders on the 28 February 1978. The imposition of punishment by the courts did not satisfy police officers. They imposed further restrictions on his release, while Archie Gumede employed him on his release.
Today many peacetime activists have surfaced, but Naicker through the organisations he worked in challenged the might of the Nationalist party, incurred their wrath and took whatever punishment was meted out. He never capitulated on the Freedom Charter.
MK structures outside the country found that a police agent had infiltrated ANC ranks. It as decided to remove Ebi and Naicker from the country in 1980. The only description of Naicker MK had was his very small feet.
ANC return of home.
When African National Congress started to return home in 1990. Naicker was charged with taking care of the assets of the ANC in Lusaka and elsewhere, in a traumatic period, where some tried to personalize the organisation's possessions. He stayed behind.
George Naicker was a minuscule fellow weighing at most 50 kg and wearing size 4 shoes. He was unassuming, always in the background, never in leadership roles.
On Robben Island, he and Sunny Singh attended to getting the news together. He took part in the celebrations to honour the USSR on the 7 November every year under the noses of the warders. He suffered the extreme pain and indignity of a straitjacket.
Naicker died in 1998 in Zimbabwe.


Hermann Lossen

Hermann Friedrich Lossen (November 7, 1842 – August 27, 1909) was a German surgeon born in Emmershäuser Hütte, Hesse.
He studied under Carl von Voit (Munich), Friedrich Daniel von Recklinghausen (Würzburg), Bernhard von Langenbeck (Berlin) and Theodor Billroth (Vienna), earning his medical doctorate in 1866 from the University of Würzburg. In addition he served as an assistant to Richard von Volkmann at the University of Halle and to Gustav Simon at the University of Heidelberg. In 1866 he became habilitated for surgery at Heidelberg, where in 1874 he was appointed associate professor.
Written works.
Lossen was author of a revision of Carl Hueter's "Grundriss der Chirurgie" (Outline of surgery), which was subsequently published over several editions (7th edition issued as "Lehrbuch der allgemeinen und speciellen Chirurgie"). Other noted works by Lossen include:


Destiny University

Destiny University (Destiny University School of Medicine and Health Sciences) was an offshore private medical school located in Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia. The school's offshore office was located in Butte, Montana. It began operations in 2001 as the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, St. Lucia, under which name it operated until 2008. At that time, the Destiny Group of Companies intended to build a new facility for the university in Vieux Fort, which would be fully operational by 2010. When the school began session in 2008, it was functioning as a "distance learning university" in the former Sandy Beach Hotel. The school operated until 2013, at which time it ceased operations due to financial constraints.
Accreditation.
The school had been approved to operate by the government of St. Lucia on 17 December 2009, though as of 2014, the country did not have legislation in place for licensing and regulating medical schools. It was not accredited by the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP). The school was listed in the FAIMER International Medical Education Directory (IMED) effective in 2001, and as Destiny from 2008 to 2013, with school ID #F0001374 and in the World Health Organization's World Directory of Medical Schools. By virtue of its listing in IMED, students who graduated from Destiny between 2008 and 2013 were authorized to take part in the United States Medical Licensing Examination three-part examinations. Those who pass the examinations are eligible according to the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates to register for and participate in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP).


M. G. Kini

Mangalore Gopal Kini (1893–1952), better known as M. G. Kini M.C., M.B., M.Ch., F.R.C.S., was a famous Indian Orthopedic Surgeon.
He was considered by the Indian Orthopedic surgical community as the forerunner of Orthopedic Surgery in India. The "Kini Memorial Oration" has been held by the Indian Orthopaedic Association (IOA) every year since 1958.


Ken Collis

Ken Collis, OBE (1923- 2004) was a politician in Manchester. He represented the ward of Sharston.
He was first elected to Manchester City Council in 1951 and served for 39 years. He worked as a maintenance engineer. He was actively involved in the management of Mobberley Approved School. He was the first chair of the Social Services Committee and later was Lord Mayor of the City in 1974. He was also chairman of Manchester Health Authority.
He and his wife Pat ran a flower stall on Wythenshawe market.


Minicell

In bacteriology, minicells are bacterial cells that are smaller than usual. The first minicells reported were from a strain of "Escherichia coli" that had a mutation in the Min System that lead to mis-localization of the septum during cell division and the production of cells of random sizes.
Generation of minicells.
The first report of minicells in the scientific literature dates to 1930., but the first use of the name "minicell" dates to 1967
Minicells of a variety of gram negative and gram positive bacteria, including "Escherichia coli" and "Salmonella enterica", have been reported, but in principle, minicells could be generated for any bacterial species that can be genetically edited. Minicells can not reproduce because they do not contain a full copy of the genome.
Normal role of minicells in bacteriology.
Scientists hypothesize that minicells are produced by normal bacteria in times of stress so that damaged areas of the cell can be expelled.
Applications of minicells.
Minicells have been extensively used to study ultrastructure of bacteria using electron cryotomography (cryoET). Minicells are ideal for cryoET because they are small enough for the electron beam to penetrate in transmission electron microscopy.
Bacterial minicells are being developed as a drug delivery system. Minicells could be used to deliver genetic material to eukaryotic cells for gene editing. They are also being investigated for vaccine development.


Hiatus for lesser petrosal nerve

The hiatus for lesser petrosal nerve is a hiatus in the petrous part of the temporal bone which transmits the lesser petrosal nerve. It is located posterior to the groove for the superior petrosal sinus and posterolateral to the jugular foramen.
The hiatus for lesser petrosal nerve receives the lesser petrosal nerve as it branches from the glossopharyngeal nerve (CN IX) before the glossopharyngeal enters the posterior cranial fossa through the jugular foramen. The lesser petrosal nerve then travels anteriorly from the hiatus toward the foramen ovale, through which it exits the cranial cavity.


Royal Army Veterinary Corps

The Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC), known as the Army Veterinary Corps (AVC) until it gained the royal prefix on 27 November 1918, is an administrative and operational branch of the British Army responsible for the provision, training and care of animals. It is a small corps, forming part of the Army Medical Services.
History.
The Army Veterinary Service was founded in 1796 after public outrage concerning the death of Army horses. Prior to this date, the management and care of army horses had been left to each individual regiment's Quartermaster, who (using government-contracted farriers) inspected animals on the march and saw to shoeing, stabling and other routine matters. Individual cavalry officers were expected to acquire a knowledge of 'the diseases which horses are subject to, and the medicines proper to be applied'.
In 1795 a veterinary surgeon, William Stockley, was appointed on a trial basis for six months to the 1st Fencible Cavalry Regiment. The experiment was a success, and in April the following year a Board of Cavalry Officers recommended that a veterinary surgeon should be attached to each regiment of cavalry, agreeing to defray the costs of three years' training for up to six men per year at the recently-established Veterinary College of London. At the same time, Edward Coleman, Principal of the Veterinary College, was appointed 'Principal Veterinary Surgeon to the Cavalry and Veterinary Surgeon to the Board of Ordnance'. With regard to the cavalry, his duties were to recommend veterinary surgeons for regimental appointments, and to inspect the horses of regiments 'when ordered to do so by the Commander-in-Chief or by the commanding Officers'. He was also contracted to supply 'Horse Medicines', and, as Principal of the College, was closely involved in the process of veterinary training and in keeping surgeons abreast of new developments. With regard to the Board of Ordnance, he was in attendance at Woolwich (where the military establishment of the Ordnance was based) once a week, to give professional assistance in the purchase of artillery horses, advice to the resident veterinary surgeon in 'extraordinary cases', and instructions to farriers on shoeing. It was on his advice that some stables at Woolwich were set aside to serve as a hospital, and he appointed John Percivall as his assistant to reside there.
Veterinary support was required without delay for horses engaged in the ongoing French Revolutionary Wars, so Coleman initially dispensed with the three-year training requirement and instead recruited medically qualified personnel, who were offered three months' additional veterinary training. As such, John Shipp was the first veterinary surgeon to be commissioned into the British Army when he joined the 11th Light Dragoons on 25 June 1796. Sixteen veterinary surgeons were appointed the following year, and by 1801 there were 44 in total. At this time, rather than forming their own autonomous department or corps, each veterinary surgeon was recruited directly into a regiment and formed part of the regimental staff under the authority of its colonel. As well as to cavalry regiments, veterinary surgeons were appointed to other units, such as the Royal Artillery and the Royal Waggon Train.
In 1805 a sizeable Veterinary Establishment was opened on Woolwich Common to see to the equine needs of the Royal Artillery (whose Barracks were nearby). Later known as the Royal Horse Infirmary, it went on to function as a hospital, veterinary store and centre of veterinary research. John Percivall was provided with quarters there; and in 1816 he took over as Senior Veterinary Surgeon of the Ordnance from Edward Coleman (the latter remaining P.V.S. to the Army until his death more than 20 years later).
In the years that followed the terms of service of military veterinary surgeons was put on a sounder footing, and systems and regulations were drawn up for the performance of their duties. By the mid-1850s there were sixty-four serving veterinary surgeons, of whom forty-three went with their units to the war in Crimea; however, as with the other military support services involved, lack of co-ordination and proper facilities severely hampered their work and led to criticism. As a result of the war, the Board of Ordnance was abolished and the Army's veterinary service reconfigured.
Army Veterinary Department.
The Board of Ordnance (which was separate from the Army and included the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers as part of its establishment) had always maintained its own veterinary service; but following the abolition of the Board and the transfer of its troops to the Army, the separate veterinary services were brought together under a single Principal Veterinary Surgeon (P.V.S.) in 1859. That year, all Army Veterinary Surgeons were listed together for the first time in the official Army List, under the heading 'Veterinary Medical Department' (the word 'Medical' being dropped two years later). It was, however, a department more in name than in practice, since veterinary surgeons once appointed still remained attached to a regiment and answerable to its colonel.
The Royal Horse Infirmary, Woolwich became the "de facto" headquarters of the Department: the Principal Veterinary Surgeon was based (and housed) there, and newly-commissioned officers attended there to receive instruction. As well as the Royal Field Artillery and the Royal Horse Artillery (both of which used large numbers of horses), the Horse Transport Branch of the Army Service Corps was based in Woolwich, which provided the Army's main land transport capability.
In the 1860s an attempt was made to codify operational arrangements for the Army Veterinary Service in wartime, with provision being made for the first time for the treatment of sick and injured animals at field depots.
In 1876, James Collins was appointed Principal Veterinary Surgeon; the role was now considered part of the War Office Staff, and he was based in Pall Mall rather than Woolwich. Collins lobbied for surgeons to be fully organised on a departmental basis. He had a degree of success: in 1878 the regimental system of veterinary care was abolished except for the cavalry. From the following year, under a newly-centralised Army Veterinary Service, a general list of non-regimental veterinary officers was available to any unit. Then, in 1881, a fully-unified Army Veterinary Department came into being when abolition of the regimental system of veterinary care was extended to all cavalry units (with the exception of the Household Cavalry, where a regimental veterinary surgeon is retained to this day).
James Collins also played a key role in establishing the Army Veterinary School in Aldershot in 1880. Initially established in the Infirmary Stables alongside one of the cavalry barracks, it instructed army officers in the care of animals, basic veterinary first aid and the selection of remounts, while at the same time instructing army veterinary surgeons in military duties and veterinary knowledge relevant to particular combat situations (including tropical diseases, which were prevalent among army animals at the time). In 1890 there were reported to be 3,312 army horses in Aldershot Camp: 1,814 belonging to cavalry regiments, 750 to the Royal Artillery (312 riding and 438 draught horses), 397 horses (and mules) pertaining to the Army Service Corps, and 262 to the Royal Engineers (the rest being attached to officers of the infantry regiments). In 1899 the School moved into more permanent premises, later known as Fitzwygram House.
In 1887 a separate Army Remount Service was established (responsible for supplying the army with replacement horses and mules). Against veterinary advice, the decision was taken in 1898 to remove provision for sick and injured animals from the war establishment, and to merge provision of field veterinary hospitals with that of field remount depots, with the result that, in the Second Boer War, disease spread rapidly and unchecked: 326,000 horses and 51,000 mules died in the conflict, very few as a result of enemy action. Faced with stringent criticism, the government established a committee of inquiry to make recommendations as to the improvement of army veterinary services. The committee reported in 1903, recommending among other things a comprehensive restructuring of the Department.
Army Veterinary Corps.
The Army Veterinary Department consisted only of officers; no provision was made for trained subordinate staff, a situation that began to be remedied by the formation in 1903 of an Army Veterinary Corps into which other ranks were drafted. Three years later the Corps amalgamated with the Department to form a single unit (the Army Veterinary Corps) of officers, NCOs and men.
The 1903 report had also recommended the building of new veterinary hospitals, first in Woolwich and Aldershot, and then in Bulford and Curragh, each staffed by an AVC unit. (This was met with resistance from senior cavalry officers, who resisted the encroachment on their regiments of establishments which were not under their command.) Woolwich was designated as the Corps Depot; a large mobilization and reserve store was built there alongside the new hospital. At Aldershot the old infirmary stables were extended to form the new hospital, with new accommodation for sixty horses provided, plus an isolation ward and an operating theatre; it was completed in 1910. During World War I temporary wooden stables were added to provide space for over a thousand animals.
During the First World War almost half the veterinary surgeons in Britain served as officers in the AVC, and the number of other ranks in the Corps grew from 934 to 41,755. Innovations included provision of Mobile Veterinary Sections, to transfer sick and wounded horses to veterinary hospitals, and camel specialists, who staffed hospital facilities in Egypt. As well as serving on the Western Front, the AVC was deployed with animals to such contrasting theatres of war as Gallipoli, Salonika, Mesopotamia and Palestine.
Royal Army Veterinary Corps.
In 1918 the Corps was given its Royal prefix in recognition of its service through the First World War. At the time the Quartermaster-General wrote:"The Corps by its initiative and scientific methods has placed military veterinary organisation on a higher plane. The high standard which it has maintained at home and throughout all theatres has resulted in a reduction of animal wastage, an increased mobility of mounted units and a mitigation of animal suffering un-approached in any previous military operation."
Demobilisation after the war was followed by mechanisation, and consequentially the RAVC was greatly reduced in size. 1938 saw the closure of the Army Veterinary School in Aldershot.
Nevertheless, animals would still be required by the army, especially where there was rough terrain or other conditions with which motor vehicles struggled to cope. During World War II the strength of the Corps increased from 85 officers and 105 other ranks, to a total of 519 officers and 3,939 other ranks. By 1942 the Army had 6,500 horses, 10,000 mules and 1,700 camels in service. That year the work of the Army Remount Service was taken over by the RAVC; in Italy, there was a high incidence of battle casualties among mules (used in large numbers for transport due to the difficult terrain) and the Corps was engaged in their procurement as well as their treatment.
In 1939, the Corps Depot had moved from Woolwich as a wartime precaution (the area being prone to aerial bombardment); as No.1 Reserve Veterinary Hospital, Depot and Training Establishment it occupied Doncaster Racecourse for the duration of the war, before relocating to Melton Mowbray (where there was a Remount depot) in February 1946.
During the war the Army Veterinary and Remount Services took on responsibility for providing the army with dogs. In the years since the Second World War, dogs have become the main animal to be engaged in combat situations.
Function.
The RAVC provides, trains and cares for mainly dogs and horses, but also tends to the various regimental mascots in the army, which range from goats to an antelope. Personnel include veterinary surgeons and veterinary technicians providing medical and surgical care to animals, and handlers who train dogs and deploy with them on operational service. Dogs are used extensively in the theatre of war, and are organised within the 1st Military Working Dog Regiment (see below). Horses are used primarily for ceremonial purposes, although the Corps continues to rehearse procedures for the operational deployment of horses. This is explained on its website in these terms: "Although there is unlikely ever be a significantly large requirement for equines in future military operations, there are scenarios where ground conditions, (in situations where stealth is required or helicopters are not available for example), could make pack transport a vital solution to the need."
Structure.
The main location for the RAVC is at Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, although staff are spread throughout the Army. They are also responsible for explosives and drug search dogs.
The Corps has subsidiary regiments:
Honours.
Sadie, a black labrador retriever belonging to 102 MWDSU and cared for by handler Lance Corporal Karen Yardley, won the PDSA Dickin Medal ("the animal's VC") in 2007.
On 24 July 2008, Lance Corporal Kenneth Michael Rowe of the RAVC and attached to 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment was killed along with his search dog Sasha, during a contact with the Taliban in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
In February 2010, Treo, a black Labrador-Spaniel crossbreed, was awarded the Dickin Medal for services in Afghanistan.
In 2011 Lance Corporal Liam Tasker of 104 MWD Squadron was killed in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He was posthumously mentioned in despatches. His Arms Explosive search dog, Theo, died shortly afterwards. Theo was posthumously awarded the Dickin Medal on 25 October 2012.
Memorials.
A memorial to the RAVC and its predecessors was unveiled at the National Memorial Arboretum on 2 May 2014 by the Princess Royal. Seven memorial stones in remembrance of the five dog handlers who lost their lives while serving in Northern Ireland and the two dog handlers who were killed while on operations in Afghanistan have been placed at their base in North Luffenham.
Built heritage.
In late March 2016, the Ministry of Defence announced that Fitzwygram House in Aldershot (also known as the Royal Army Veterinary Centre), was one of ten sites that would be sold in order to reduce the size of the Defence estate. Built in 1899 for the Army Veterinary School, the building contained a library, laboratories, teaching and demonstration rooms (which remained in use after the closure of the School). It contains a plaque which reads: "This school was founded through the representations of James Collins esq, Principal Veterinary Surgeon to the forces and Major General Sir Frederick Fitzwygram, Bart FRCVS commanding the Cavalry Brigade, Aldershot, 1st June 1880".
While the house itself is due to be converted for civilian use, the stable complex behind it was scheduled to be demolished. This (a surviving combination of mid-19th century cavalry infirmary stables and early twentieth century sick boxes, operating room and pharmacy) was used as a First World War horse hospital, and has been described as providing 'a unique archaeological record of that period of military veterinary history'.
Heads of the Corps and its predecessors.
Principal Veterinary Surgeon to the Cavalry
Medical Superintendent to the Veterinary Service of the Board of Ordnance (Artillery)
Principal Veterinary Surgeon of the Army
Director-General of the Army Veterinary Department
Director-General Army Veterinary Services
Director Army Veterinary Services
Director Army Veterinary and Remount Services