imadjidov's blog

The Gospel of Germsis a social history of the implications of the germ theory on Americans. It provides a valuable and absorbing window into how the American society, with the introduction of the germ theory, saw the world with new eyes. Major themes of this book are the measures adopted by Americans to avoid germs and how these radical changes served to fortify societal distinctions. The countless stories of the victims of unseen killers shocked me to the core. In each of them, I found a little of myself. However, a disadvantage of the author’s work is her inability to reflect the subjective thoughts of scientists on the issues covered. Tomes is limited to presenting the facts, but not the essence of the scientific discoveries. Furthermore, another problem with The Gospel of Germsis that it focuses too much on the Progressive Era, downgrading the social movements of the later era as less important. Moreover, Tomes failed to recognize the class differences among women. As history tends to forget that class differences have always affected the lives of women. Furthermore, Tomes does not mention the impact of the germ theory on African American women. The gospel of germs highlights the media as an important actor in the public health system, that can catalyze action at the national and local levels. This was particularly true with respect to diseases. The greatest challenge of the early 20-century germ gospellers was to convince Americans that tuberculosis was a communicable disease. As a result, many anti-tuberculosis societies relied on pamphlets, popular lectures, and newspaper articles to promote public awareness of the disease. Through the media, the germ panics reflected the notion that contact with the diseased and the things they touched was bad, so it helped reinforce feelings of class prejudice and racism. 

Nglazi, Mweete D, et al. “The Impact of Mass Media Interventions on Tuberculosis Awareness, 

Health-Seeking Behaviour and Health Service Utilisation: a Systematic Review Protocol.” BMJ Open, BMJ Publishing Group, 14 Jan. 2014, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3902379/.

This peer-reviewed journal analyzes the impact of mass media in Tuberculosis intervention. The authors argue that the use of mass media is one of the important strategies in communicating behavioral change in relation to TB prevention and treatment. As a result, the authors conducted a systematic review on the effects of mass media interventions on TB awareness. To do this, the authors performed electronic searches in PubMed, Scopus and other databases, along with manual searches. On the whole this is thorough and well written peer reviewed article on the impact of mass media on tuberculosis intervention. However, in the methods, the authors should have provided more specific details of the electronic searches to avoid selection bias. The studied journals were not clearly identified, and a clear definition of the comparison groups were not given. The authors conclude that mass media interventions have proven effective in changing individuals’ behavior, healthcare utilization, and raising awareness of the disease. With respect to TB, the authors conclude that the mass media has the potential to promote awareness on the services that exist for TB diagnosis and treatment. This peer reviewed source is applicable to my theme because it directly analyzes the impact of pamphlets, popular lectures, and newspaper articles on Tuberculosis awareness. The article supports my theme by concluding that mass media interventions have proven effective in changing individuals’ behavior, healthcare utilization, and raising awareness of the disease. For this reason, the media is an important actor in the public health system, that can catalyze action at the national and local levels. 

Leavitt, Judith Walzer., and Ronald L. Numbers. Sickness and Health in America: Readings in

the History of Medicine and Public Health. University of Wisconsin Press, 1997.

This chapter examines the history of the early workforce movements in the United States and how it has developed over the years. In the following years, unions became more active in fighting tuberculosis. They recognized that tuberculosis was prevalent among the poor and working class. This chapter presents some newspaper articles such as the Glass Worker’s to highlight some effective campaigns against tuberculosis. This chapter also examines how union campaigns using the media highlighted the importance of cleaning up the workplace and keeping the workplace healthy were seen as benefits to both the worker and the public. This chapter is relevant to my theme because it helps readers examine the impacts of media on the present and future workforce conditions with a sense of perspective and continuity. I will use this chapter to highlight how anti-tuberculosis societies relied on pamphlets, popular lectures, and newspaper articles to promote public awareness of the disease. On such accounts, I will show that the media has proven effective in influencing individual and societal behavior towards raising awareness of tuberculosis and transforming the U.S. workforce conditions. 

Duffy, Thomas P. “The Flexner Report--100 Years Later.” The Yale Journal of Biology and 

Medicine, YJBM, Sept. 2011, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3178858/.

This peer reviewed article analyzes how the Flexner Report transformed the American medical education system. Abraham Flexner, an educator, published the Flexner report which critiqued medical schools in the US and Canada. This report leads to the reform of medical and higher education in the United States and Canada. The Flexner Report triggered much-needed reforms in the standards, organization, and curriculum of medical schools in the US and Canada. At the time of the Report, many medical schools were proprietary schools operated more for profit than for education, students did not need to have a college degree, and few schools had the equipment and facilities to conduct scientific research. All those things and many others changed for the better after the Flexner’s report. I plan to discuss how this report changed the American medical education system. For example, this report increased homogenous in the practice of medicine and medical education in the US. It also ensured that all medical schools should be attached to a university. Thus, committed to promote increasing knowledge among practitioners and physicians through constant research. This report is relevant to my theme because I want to highlight how public health organizations utilized mass media to address their issues. Noteworthy publications such as the Flexner Report was introduced to the public and covered in the front pages of many newspapers. In that event, it transformed the nature and process of medical education in America.  On such accounts, the media has proven effective in transforming the U.S. medical education. For this reason, the media is an important actor in the public health system, that can catalyze action at the national and local levels. 

Brandt, Allan M. The Cigarette Century: the Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product 

That Defined America. Basic Books, 2007.

With the post-war consumerist culture, it was not difficult to get media attention. According to this article, the unification phase of the American economy was the perfect time for trying new marketing methods, since the baby boomers began to change everything at this period. In the 1960s, there was a request for understanding the reach of right material to the right audience. As a result, businesses took advantage of radio and especially the television to sell their messages to the consumer. Advertising not only opened the consumer to a variety of information, but also enabled them to a greater variety of goods and services. Television was the main method of choice for advertisement because it gave individual tobacco brands their very own identity. However, the introduction of the television to American families not only revolutionized the strategies of American tobacco marketing, but it also helped lead significant social policy change. This article applies to my theme because it emphasizes how media communications played a key role in shaping tobacco-related knowledge among individuals and within communities. Increasing media attention not only changed individual smoking habits but also helped create a climate in which local governments pushed toward tougher anti-smoking policies.

The poster does not include much textual information; however, it focuses on using images and figures to highlight all the necessary roles of a scientific poster. Due to the complex imagery, the poster is not easy to follow without the help of the author. The background image reflects the main theme: the team is working closely to create a computer program concept. The goal of the poster is not clearly stated. The design however is informative and is lightweight, designed for any audience. The computer programs and icons in the poster reflect the theme of the research.The triangle image in the center is the most important and largest design element. It is contrasting with the background and its fonts are typed in a green font that would be clearly distinguishable even from a long distance.All the information is presented in the form of imagery and data. The person who is interested in the poster will definitely want to get acquainted with the detailed information, therefore it is presented in an understandable, but at the same time concise form. 

• The design focuses on the key information needed by the participants. The dark background contrasts with light outline, focusing on the key idea and data. The sharper text and illustrations contrast with the background. Such information is likely to be interesting to potential participant. However, there is not a large print to establish what the poster is about. The poster does not contain much writing other than some computer program language. The computer language does catch the eye and is appropriately used throughout the text. 

HOX genes are a group of highly conserved genes in organisms that dictates their body plans. To determine whether HOX genes are a reliable indicator of phylogeny, we look to determine the reliability of the phylogenetic trees made using the HOXC gene and comparing it to the existing phylogenetic tree. The analysis would highlight differences in HOXC gene expression, which is gathered using MEGA software. The conclusion to this study will allow for the determination of phylogeny in a new species using the sequence of the HOXC gene.

It is clear that this process is very complex and multi-staged; non-coding RNAs are involved in it. To a complete understanding of all these processes in different animals, science is still very far away. When the basic mechanisms of gene regulation during early ontogenesis are deciphered, biologists will be able to address fundamental questions. A modified phylogenetic tree allows us to map where organisms may have originated based on HOX similarities. A heat graph showing HOX gene interactions will let us see the expression of unique HOX genes. By doing this analysis, we can know more about HOXC genes and how they manifest in the animal kingdom. Such techniques with animals can lead to answering important questions on the evolution of various animals.

The overall objective of our proposal was to identify subjects that contain a highly conserved gene that can be characterized by the amount of expression. One specific aim the proposal had was to identify highly conserved genes that are present in the Animalia kingdom. In the development of animals, there is a period of embryonic similarity, where both the appearance of the embryos and the expression of their genes are conserved. The existence of this period is associated with the appearance in the evolution of stable building plans. In HOXC genes, the genes themselves are located in a specific order on chromosomes. Therefore, a consistent pattern of activation of HOXC genes is necessary in order for the body to form correctly. However, the mechanism and regulation of the HOXC genes themselves remain unclear.