Healthy Barbs: Activism Confronts Mortality

Barbara Brenner, JD, was the Executive Director of Breast Cancer Action (BCA) from 1995–2010. Before that, she was a longtime activist in the anti-war movement and an attorney who, for most of her career, practiced public policy law. After she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993 at the age of 41, she took the helm of BCA. Under her leadership, the organization moved into a position of national advocacy—demanding research on the causes and prevention of breast cancer, including the role of industrial pollutants. Barbara started the “Think Before You Pink” campaign, encouraging people to question whether companies that display pink ribbons actually produce products that harm women's health or generate any funds to fight breast cancer. Her blog, “Healthy Barbs,” challenged readers to critique routine healthcare practices and policies. Barbara received numerous awards, including a Jefferson Award for Public Service in 2007, the Smith College Medal in 2012, and the ACLU-Northern California's Lola Hanzel Courageous Advocacy Award in 2012. Barbara had a recurrence of breast cancer in 1996. She died of complications associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, on May 10, 2013.     

Bayesian penalized B-spline estimation approach for epidemic models

Ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are normally used to model dynamic processes in applied sciences such as biology, engineering, physics, and many other areas. In these models, the parameters are usually unknown, and thus they are often specified artificially or empirically. Alternatively, a feasible method is to estimate the parameters based on observed data. In this study, we propose a Bayesian penalized B-spline approach to estimate the parameters and initial values for ODEs used in epidemiology. We evaluated the efficiency of the proposed method based on simulations using the Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm for the Kermack–McKendrick model. The proposed approach is also illustrated based on a real application to the transmission dynamics of hepatitis C virus in mainland China.     

An Ecological Model for Quantitative Risk Assessment for Schistosomiasis: The Case of a Patchy Environment in the Coastal Tropical Area of Northeastern Brazil

We developed a stochastic model for quantitative risk assessment for the Schistosoma mansoni (SM) parasite, which causes an endemic disease of public concern. The model provides answers in a useful format for public health decisions, uses data and expert opinion, and can be applied to any landscape where the snail Biomphalaria glabrata is the main intermediate host (South and Central America, the Caribbean, and Africa). It incorporates several realistic and case‐specific features: stage‐structured parasite populations, periodic praziquantel (PZQ) drug treatment for humans, density dependence, extreme events (prolonged rainfall), site‐specific sanitation quality, environmental stochasticity, monthly rainfall variation, uncertainty in parameters, and spatial dynamics. We parameterize the model through a real‐world application in the district of Porto de Galinhas (PG), one of the main touristic destinations in Brazil, where previous studies identified four parasite populations within the metapopulation. The results provide a good approximation of the dynamics of the system and are in agreement with our field observations, i.e., the lack of basic infrastructure (sanitation level and health programs) makes PG a suitable habitat for the persistence and growth of a parasite metapopulation. We quantify the risk of SM metapopulation explosion and quasi‐extinction and the time to metapopulation explosion and quasi‐extinction. We evaluate the sensitivity of the results under varying scenarios of future periodic PZQ treatment (based on the Brazilian Ministry of Health's plan) and sanitation quality. We conclude that the plan might be useful to slow SM metapopulation growth but not to control it. Additional investments in better sanitation are necessary.     

Barriers to Managing Coronary Artery Disease Among Older Women

Numerous barriers to managing coronary artery disease (CAD) among older women are reported in the literature; however, few studies adjust for demographic and health status differences. A survey assessing barriers and other factors was distributed to a stratified random sampling of older women with CAD. Factor analysis and multiple logistic regression procedures were used to estimate the impact of these issues on receiving a CAD-related office visit. The most problematic barriers included denial and low health literacy. Efforts to promote patient awareness of heart health and better communication between patients and clinicians may alleviate these barriers.     

基于动物秉性的人生启示*

动物和人一样，也具有不同的秉性。以动物喻人，自古即有。从辩证的角度看，动物秉性自然有好的一面，也有坏的一面。这里我们借助动物思考人生，专门探讨动物秉性中一些好的品质，狗-无比忠诚；猪-难得糊涂；狼-勇敢合作的典范；牛-勤劳奉献精神；狐狸-聪明智慧的象征；龟-勤恳踏实的榜样。可见，动物的许多秉性亦给人生带来诸多的启示，值得人们以思考和学习。     

Foot-and-Mouth Disease Entrance Assessment Model Through Air Passenger Violations

This article aims to construct a risk model for the prediction of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) entrance caused by passengers who illegally carry meat products of cloven-hoofed animals through international airports into a country. The risk that meat contaminated with the FMD virus is formulated as the probabilities of FMD factor events (the prevalence of FMD), the commodity factor event (the transportation, storage, and distribution (TSD) factor event), and the passenger event. Data used for analysis were records of illegal meat product carriers from areas A and B intercepted at an international airport in Taiwan. A risk model was proposed to simulate the probability distributions in disease prevalence, probability of FMD virus existing in the meat products after meat processing, and estimation of survival of virus and time period for TSD. The probability of the passenger event was hypothesized with the odds of intercepted passengers and estimated via logistic regression. The results showed that the odds of passengers being intercepted by beagles were higher than those intercepted by Customs. By conducting Monte Carlo simulations, the probability of FMD virus risk caused by FMD factors from area A was 149 times lower than that from area B. The probability of FMD virus risk caused by the passenger event from area A was four times lower than the corresponding probability from area B. The model provides a contribution to FMD prevention and can be a reference for developing models of other diseases.     

中国当代“动物叙事”神话原型母题及其模式研究

中华民族对待动物的古老原始神话思维对当下文学创作具有潜在影响,在与现代思维理念相交融、碰撞之后发生现代转型,并且这种转型以一种相对固定的母题模式呈现在“动物叙事”文本表达中。原始动物神话的派生形态：动物自然神话与动物图腾神话的溯源研究,导引出动物原型母题中动物作为自然象征、动物作为人的本质性象征两大核心叙事维度,进而深入到对其神话原型母题模式与类型衍生的探讨。     

区块链赋能灾疫治理的价值逻辑、实践路径及其伦理反思

近年来,作为新型网络底层架构技术的区块链已经开始应用于社会治理领域,为国家治理能力现代化提供了新的着力点。人类面对灾疫的实践活动既是社会非常状态下的治理活动,又是道德意志驱动的伦理实践。区块链技术因其具有多维价值特征与灾疫治理的伦理目标高度契合,有望为现有灾疫治理体系进行赋能。同时,作为一项新兴的技术手段和灾疫治理架构,区块链赋能灾疫治理的伦理风险在于其可能超越了治理活动的边界。因此,需要警惕区块链技术对灾疫治理可能存在的价值偏离。     

民间动物造型艺术与民俗活动

民间动物造型不仅是一种民间美术,更是于广阔的社会生活层面上显示的一种民间文化现象.它的存在和发展与丰富的民俗活动紧密联系着,本文主要分析了民间动物造型艺术与生产民俗、人生礼仪民俗、信仰民俗和装饰游艺民俗的关系.     

宋代江南地区疾疫成因分析

现代医学认为流行病是由各种生物性致病原或称为病原体所引起的一组具有强烈传染性的疾病.而从传统医学角度而言,所谓流行病是指具有温热病性质的急性传染病,属温热病中具有强烈传染性、病情危重凶险并具有大流行特征的一类疾病.在古代文献中,一般称之为疲、疾疲、瘥、札、疠等.宋人也大体承袭了这一提法.通常情况下,疫病与流行病无法确切区分,因此,统称流行病为疾疫或瘟疫.宋代江南地区是流行病的多发区.这大概与江南地区水网密布,气候温湿、人口密集、人员流动频繁、经济较为活跃易于细菌病毒繁殖有关.