Pharmacopoeia – a collaboration between the textile artist Susie Freeman and the general practitioner Liz Lee

In this article I describe the development of my collaboration with the textile artist Susie Freeman in the production of the visual arts project Pharmacopoeia. Over the last 3 years we have created a body of work that aims to provide information about common medical treatments in a way that engages the public imagination. The work is dominated by the use of active pharmaceuticals, both pills and capsules, which are incorporated into dramatic fabrics by a process known as pocket knitting. These fabrics are then made into clothing and accessories, making their individual messages easier to ‘read’. The work aims to encourage people to think about their own medical and pharmacological history, and to reflect on their relationship with commonly prescribed drugs. It also reveals how dependent our society is on pharmaceuticals, how ambivalent we feel about them and yet how casually we use them.     

Dimensions of self-esteem and psychological symptoms among chinese adolescents in Hong Kong

Self-esteem and psychological symptoms were assessed in a sample of 1082 Chinese adolescents who responded to the Chinese versions of Coopersmith's Self-Esteem Inventory and the General Health Questionnaire. Three dimensions of self-esteem, interpreted as Family Acceptance/Rejection, Self-Depreciation, and Peer Affirmation/Disaffirmation, were found to relate substantially to general psychological symptoms and particularly to specific symptoms of anxiety, social dysfunction, and depression as reported by these adolescents. The implications of the relative importance of appraisal from internal feedback as sources of self-esteem as opposed to the external feedback from family and peers were discussed in relation to self-esteem enhancement in adolescents.Received his Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario in 1978. His research interests include self-esteem, stress, coping, health and psychopathology.Received her Ph.D. from the University of South Dakota in 1983. Her research interests include stress, coping and health, and geriatric psychology.     

Labor market experiences of low-income black women in middle-class suburbs: Evidence from a survey of gautreaux program participants

This article reports on a highly unusual experiment in racial and economic integration, the Gautreaux program. This program helps black families who are either current or former residents of public housing move into subsidized housing in Chicago and its suburbs. Surveying a random sample of 332 participants, we find that suburban movers are significantly more likely to have a job post-move than city movers, even among those who had never had a job before moving. Multivariate analysis shows that these differences are significant even after controlling for respondents' previous work history, human capital, and personal characteristics. These results suggest that low-income urban blacks experience significant gains in employment by moving to middle-class suburbs. Thus, housing assistance may be an effective alternative to traditional welfare-to-work programs.     

Age estimation by occlusal tooth wear

The purpose of the present investigation was to test the accuracy of a new scoring system in recording tooth wear for age estimation. The material consisted of dental stone casts of 383 volunteers who had sound premolars and molars with normal occlusion. The degree of occlusal wear for all premolar and molar teeth was scored with the new system. The high intra- and inter-examiner concordances showed that the new score system was very reliable. The degree of tooth wear showed a significant positive correlation with age in each and every examined tooth of both males and females. Tooth wear scores of males were higher than those of females. Calculating tables for age estimation were designed and the accuracy of age estimation was obtained with the General Linear Models procedures. Our system could provide estimation of an individual's age within +/-3 years in 42.4% of males and 49.4% of females, within +/-5 years in 61.8% of males and 63.3% of females. When the subjects were divided into two age groups and data were re-treated, the accuracy of age estimation was increased. Collectively, it was shown that our new system for scoring tooth wear is a reliable and accurate method for age estimation.     

Pathologic features of childhood pedestrian fatalities

A retrospective analysis of 68 cases of fatal childhood pedestrian accidents in South Australia that occurred over a 20-year period from January 1977 to December 1996 was undertaken. The age range was 12 months to 16 years (average, 7.6 years), with a male to female ratio of 41:27. The most common site of significant injury was the head (91.2%), followed by the abdomen (50%), chest (47.1%), and neck (38.2%). The most frequently encountered significant injury combinations involved the head, chest, and abdomen (14.7%); the head and chest (11.8%); and the head, neck, and abdomen (11.8%). Injuries were severe, consisting of extensive compound and comminuted skull fractures, neck fractures, and massive intraparenchymal brain and internal organ damage with avulsions and fragmentation. Non-life-threatening limb injuries occurred in 88% of cases. A distinct subgroup involved infants and younger children playing in driveways at home who were hit by reversing vehicles. The injuries were often of such a severe nature that death was instantaneous and with no possibility of successful medical intervention. More deaths occurred during the winter than summer months.     

The statistical variability of blood alcohol concentration measurements in drink-driving cases

Like many other places in the world, Hong Kong has drink-driving legislation which prohibits a driver from having in his blood alcohol exceeding a prescribed limit while in control of a motor vehicle. The accuracy of measuring this alcohol concentration is obviously of prime concern as an erroneous result can avert the administration of justice. The common practice is to deduct all errors from the measured value and compare the deducted value with the prescribed limit, so that the benefit of all errors of the measurement is given to the driver. It is therefore important for any laboratory responsible for measuring blood alcohol concentrations to identify and quantify all errors associated with the measurement. The present study examined 900 blood alcohol determinations carried out by the Hong Kong Government Laboratory (HKGL) on cases of suspected drink driving. The determinations were performed by 5 different analysts with two different sets of instruments during 1995-1997. Statistical analysis indicated that the instruments had no bearing on the random error or variability and that even though analyst was a significant factor on variability, the deviation from the mean so caused was only 0.3% and of no practical significance. When the systematic error introduced by the tolerance limits of the certified alcohol standards (purchased from the Laboratory of Government Chemists, UK) was taken into account, the total uncertainty (random plus systematic errors) of an alcohol determination at 99.5% confidence level was found to be 4%. It is recommended that laboratories engaged in blood alcohol determination should adopt similar statistical treatment of their analytical results to find out the error and to ensure that the results are independent of analyst and instrument used.