Lerner KL.
Smallpox Eradication and Storage of Infectious Agents. (Preprint) Originally published in K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, eds. World Heath And Global issues . Cengage | Worldmark. 2016.
Abstract
The eradication of smallpox is considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the twentieth century. Specimens of smallpox virus are, however, still officially held in the United States and Russia.
Samples of variola DNA may also be recoverable from old medical samples, such as the century-old smallpox scabs discovered in an envelope tucked in a 19th century medical textbook in a New Mexico library in 2004. In 2014, U.S. official found more smallpox samples in a storage room on the National Institutes for Health campus in Bethesda, Maryland.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared smallpox eradicated in 1980. The last confirmed naturally occurring smallpox case was in 1977/ Ali Maow Maalin, a hospital employee in Merca, Somalia, survived his bout with smallpox.
Following eradication, the World Health Organization requested that all laboratories in the world either destroy their smallpox virus stocks or transfer them to one of two reference laboratories, the Institute of Viral Preparations in Moscow or the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. The stocks of the Institute of Viral Preparations were transferred in 1994 to the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology of the Russian Federation in Siberia, now the WHO Collaborating Centre for Orthopoxvirus Diagnostics. (download to read more)
Lerner KL.
SARS, MERS, and the emergence of corona viruses. (Preprint) Originally published in K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, eds. World Heath And Global issues . Cengage | Worldmark. 2016.
AbstractSevere acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was the first viral highly transmissible emergent disease to appear among humans during the twenty-first century. Caused by a coronavirus (SARS-CoV), SARS is far more lethal than the pandemic 2009 H1N1 flu (caused by a Type A H1N1 influenza virus). Although less lethal than the H5N1 avian flu virus, the SARS virus is more transmissible among humans than the H5N1 virus. In 2012, a novel human coronavirus, now called Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), emerged in the Middle East to cause fatal human infections. MERS-CoV human infection is similar to SARS-CoV in having a high fatality rate and the ability to spread from person to person which resulted in secondary cases among close contacts including healthcare workers without travel history to the Middle East. Both SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV viruses also have close genetic and physiological relationships with known bat coronaviruses. (download to read moe)
Lerner KL.
Washington — Is "American exceptionalism" now hubris? [February 2016]. Taking Bearings. LMG (London, Paris, Cambridge). 2016.
AbstractWashington --- Is "American exceptionalism" now hubris?
With socioeconomic indicators regarding quality-of-life issues portraying America as far from first, with America's civil discourse corrupted by the shameful shouting exhibitions in the Republican primaries, with Americans —both left and right -- increasingly drawn toward polarizing populist movements, and with American exceptionalism increasingly scorned globally --or cast in a negative light as an implicitly interventionist creed--a number of pieces recently published in the BBC and elsewhere have essentially asked, "is 'American exceptionalism' hubris?" [more]
Lerner KL.
Daesh (aka, Islamic State, ISIS, and/or ISIL) Use of Chemical Weapons in Iraq Raises Questions About Source. 2016.
AbstractThe Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) recently confirmed that laboratory tests of samples taken following Daesh attacks on Kurdish forces southwest of Erbil in August 2015 tested positive for sulphur mustard. (see Reuters dispatch by Anthony Deutsch, "Exclusive: Samples confirm Islamic State used mustard gas in Iraq - diplomat" < http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0VO1IC >)
Reuters reported that a OPCCW representative "speaking on condition of anonymity because the findings have not yet been released, said the result confirmed that chemical weapons had been used by Islamic State fighters."
This is the second documented use by Daesh/ISIS forces following tests that confirmed use of mustard gas by Daesh/ISIS forces in Syria.
As the Reuters dispatch also points out, the precursors and technology to make these weapons are easy enough to find or create in oil producing regions, and so it is possible ISIS is developing them de novo. More ominous would be if new weapons are be created from remnants of Syria’s former stockpile because it would mean faulty accounting for the weapons supposedly dismantled under international supervision back in 2014.
The Syrian stockpile was allegedly dismantled under international supervision as part of a deal to avoid potential US/UN intervention following the use of Sarin nerve gas by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against a rebellious area near Damascus in 2013. Assad denied he authorized use of chemical weapons. (more)
Lerner KL.
Monroeville, Alabama — Go Set a Watchman. Taking Bearings. LMG (London, Paris, Cambridge). 2016.
AbstractMonroeville, Alabama -- I have many doubts and concerns over the formulation and publication of "Go Set a Watchman" by Harper Lee, but the release could not come at a better time.
If we are to accept that the Atticus Finch found in "Go Set a Watchman" is not a discarded draft never intended for publication, but rather a deeper look into a more complex character, then the evolved
I have many doubts and concerns over the formulation and publication of "Go Set a Watchman" by Harper Lee, but the release could not come at a better time.
If we are to accept that the Atticus Finch found in "Go Set a Watchman" is not a discarded draft never intended for publication, but rather a deeper look into a
more complex character, then the evolved.
Atticus Finch, formerly a respected paragon of virtue (especially as played by Gregory Peck in the movie version), is by contemporary standards deeply flawed by racism.
Are we now forced to reevaluate Ms. Lee's fictional hero just as we have collectively undergone a spasm of reevaluation of reevaluate symbols and causes related to the Confederacy?
Was Atticus Finch a racist who should be condemned and stricken from study, or do we continue to laud him for overcoming ignorance, and at least during the events of Mockingbird — in a crucible of fire — for overcoming his own flaws to act honorably?
Do we view him in the context of his times, or retroactively reinterpret him only by modern standards of enlightenment?
I have always believed there is great value in studying the flaws of mankind and men —even fictional characters. All of us are flawed. All of us are diminished in some form by prejudice and bias. If a fictional character is to be realistic, he must struggle with imperfections and weaknesses. (more)
Lerner KL.
Radiation Exposure. Brenda Wilmoth Lerner and K. Lee Lerner, eds., Worldmark Global Health and Medicine Issues. Cengage. 2016.
Abstract
Radiation exposure occurs any time that electromagnetic rays or fast-moving particles interacts with living tissue. Ionizing radiation is particularly damaging to tissue; examples include x rays, gamma radiation, and fast-moving subatomic particles such as neutrons. Biological damage caused by exposure to ionizing ranges from mild tissue burns to cancer, genetic damage, and ultimately, death.
While radiation in the form of heat, visible light, and even ultraviolet light is essential to life, the word "radiation" is often used to refer only to those emissions which can damage or kill living things. Such harm is specifically attributed to radioactive particles as well as the electromagnetic rays with frequencies higher than visible light (ultraviolet, x-rays, gamma rays). Harmful electromagnetic radiation is also known as ionizing radiation because it strips atoms of one or more of their electrons, leaving highly reactive ions called free radicals which can damage tissue or genetic material. (more)
Lerner KL.
Saint Amant, La. — Louisiana Floods: Bridging stereotype and stigma. Taking Bearings. Harvard Blogs. 2016;(August).
Abstract
Saint Amant, La. — A slow-moving tropical system dumped record rains across southeast Louisiana, with some places reporting more than two feet of rain over a three-day period in mid-August 2016. Cresting floodwaters from several rivers eclipsed previous records. Federal disaster officials characterized the rainfall as "historic," and President Obama declared a "major disaster."
Water rose so fast in some areas that emergency services and shelters also needed quick evacuation. Rescue helicopters plucked people from rooftops and dropped water during the day to stranded motorists cut off by floodwaters as a ragtag fleet of volunteers with small fishing boats, airboats, and hunting canoes joined state and federal rescue efforts to save neighbors from fast-rising waters. (more)