This thesis discusses the development of penicillin during World War II, made possible by a complex relationship between private industry, academic researchers, and government research facilities and funding. It also examines the media response to the emergence of penicillin, the wide-spread war-time preoccupation with venereal disease, and the discovery of the potency of penicillin in treating such illnesses. It argues that the societal importance of penicillin was leveraged by policy makers in the post-war period to expand government funding for medical research and the role of the US Public Health Service. This was part of an overall trend of post-war expansion in government. / History

The aim of this work was to examine the effects of sampling method on accuracy of culture for Tritrichomonas foetus; and the effects of sampling method, time delay, and addition of a DNA preservative on the accuracy of a PCR test. Samples from two different sources were used for Experiment 1. Preputial scrapings were collected from one group of three infected and one uninfected bull 10 times. Secondly, samples were collected from 5 infected bulls by both sheath washing and scraping on 6 occasions, while 8 uninfected animals were sampled three or more times. Twenty nine out of 30 samples from the first sample set were found to be positive, and 83 % of samples collected by both methods for the second sample set tested positive. No samples from the control bulls were found to be positive. Scraping was found to offer significant practical advantages over washing. It may be subject to greater operator variability than sheath washing. The second experiment utilised the same samples as were used for the second data set under Experiment 1. Guanidinium thiocyanate (GuSCN) was added to half of each sample. Each sample was cultured, while all samples were subjected to DNA extraction within 6 and 30 hours and after 5 days of storage at 4 °C. PCR and agarose gel electrophoresis was performed. No samples from the control animals tested positive on PCR. The sensitivity of the PCR on samples from infected bulls ranged from 0,9 in samples extracted within 6 hours to 0,31 in samples extracted after 5 days. Sampling method had no effect with the exception of samples held for 5 days with GuSCN, where sheath washing was superior to scraping. The addition of GuSCN had no effect. Holding time reduced sensitivity at 5 days, but the effect was not significant at 30 hours. It is concluded that preputial scraping is equal in sensitivity to washing for culture of Tritrichomonas foetus. Preputial samples for PCR testing should be submitted as soon as possible after collection, and the addition of GuSCN has no effect. Samples collected by sheath washing may be superior to those collected by scraping for PCR testing. The requirement for a test with sufficient sensitivity to allow reliable identification of infected bulls based on one sample has not been met with the described method. / Dissertation (MMedVet (Gyn))--University of Pretoria, 2002. / Production Animal Studies / unrestricted

Second Lieutenant Charles Scheffel, B Company Platoon Leader, 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division modified existing methods of venereal disease control in Algeria, North Africa during Operation Torch after being ordered to reduce the venereal disease rate by his regimental commander, Colonel William Ritter. Tasked with defeating the Germans first, Scheffel learned other enemies lurked as well, and he instituted an illegal policy to solve the problem as fast and as effectively as possible. Official United States policy on the eve of World War Two prohibited the establishment and operation of a brothel. Scheffel operated this brothel as the United States Army occupied Arab lands for the first time in its history and improved the combat effectiveness of his regiment.

This study investigates the history of venereal diseases in Sweden in the period from 1785 to 1903. Medical and political perceptions of these diseases as well as the patients and their continued lives have been studied. Venereal diseases were considered a significant threat to the growth of the population throughout the period. They were recognised through the dramatic sores that they produced on the body of the patient, and were frequently cured with mercurial therapies. In the late nineteenth century, syphilis and gonorrhoea became the two most significant sexually transmitted diseases. They were believed to cause paralysis, mental illness, infant mortality and infertility. Sweden fought venereal diseases with a network of State-controlled health measures. County hospitals that contained special wards for patients diagnosed with venereal diseases were established in the late eighteenth century. These hospitals were financed by mandatory revenue after 1817. Medical care was mandatory and ministers, law officers and heads of households could inform the provincial physicians about the incidence of venereal disease. During the nineteenth century, the regulation of prostitution was enforced which implied that women were blamed for the spread of these diseases. Patients with venereal disease belonged to a cross section of contemporary Swedish society. Most of them were from the lower- or working-classes. They suffered higher age-specific mortality in the first half of the century, and high infant mortality throughout the period. It appears, however, that the constructed image of a patient with venereal disease had little impact upon their lives. Contemporary poverty and societal problems, such as unemployment and poor housing, probably played a larger part in their lives. / digitalisering@umu

Public health officials and social reformers grew concerned over the prevalence of gonorrhea and syphilis following World War I. The initiatives put in place by authorities to control the spread of venereal disease lacked any concern for women’s health and sought to control their newly found independence and mobility. This thesis examines public health policies related to venereal disease control from 1920-1945 and how these regulations affected women in the United States. Laws and social reform measures such as pre-marital blood tests, the Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Act, and the use of quarantining prostitutes during World War I and World War II were passed by government officials to ensure the future of America as a fit fighting force of men, placing women’s health concerns last in its race for domination. Women essentially were marked as the diseased dangers to America’s health.

Community service projects have consistently been an effective means of community involvement and an avenue in which improvement in an area may be measured. Although the roles each participant assumes may differ, the ultimate accomplishment of the project is paramount to each person involved. This paper will explore the Governor's Task Force on Venereal Disease to determine both the effectiveness of the Task Force and the methods utilized to accomplish the task force goals. Primarily, this group of selected individuals will be reviewed to determine whether they were effective due to their ability to influence others, or simply through a great deal of hard work and co-operation. Data for this work was collected from individual written responses from Task Force participants, the Governor's Commission on Youth, various medical professionals, several works of other authors (see bibliography), data gathered by me as participant-observer, and through interviews from selected Task Force participants. Upon compiling the data, several concepts were revealed. I found that the influence that each participant enjoyed in the community was a primary factor of the effectiveness of the Task Force. Moreover, it was the influence of the particular individual with others who could assist with this particular problem which created a positive response, and thus effective results. This paper also explores the Task Force as a politically appointed group chosen to complete a specific project. The goals, operations, and accomplishments are detailed in an effort to measure the significance of the Task Force in the community.

TITLE: Risk behaviors of adolescents in the areas of reproductive health AUTHOR: Bc. Anna Fendrichová DEPARTMENT: Department of pedagogy SUPERVISOR: PhDr. Jiří Kučírek PhD. ABSTRACT: This thesis deals with risk behaviour, with a special focus on reproductive health in late adolescence. The theoretical part first approaches risky behaviour in general and next it targets on reproductive health in adolescence, on its possible risks and consequences. The conclusion of the theoretical part is dedicated to the prevention of risky reproductive behaviour with emphasis on primary prevention. The research part of the thesis presents a quantitative research survey by means of a questionnaire. The analysis of the survey data provides information on adolescents' knowledge of reproductive health and their behaviour in this area. Further, it reveals whether there are differences in knowledge and behaviour among students who have a subject focused on health education and those who do not. The results of the survey showed that knowledge among the questioned adolescents is not at such a level as expected. Neither the differences in awareness and behaviour of adolescent students in particular branches are not as significant as one would expect. KEY WORDS: adolescence, risk behaviour, reproductive health, pregnancy, abortion...

The enlightenment period is often considered a dark age within the history of medicine. Contrary to this sentiment, I argue that the enlightenment spirit of inquiry regarding venereal disease was vibrant, dynamic, and profoundly influenced how syphilis was understood in the subsequent century. Historiography frequently minimises advances of medical knowledge made in the eighteenth century by focusing on the inefficacy of treatments, rather than on developments in medical theories and concepts. This thesis attends to this gap by examining a case study within venereology to demonstrate that physicians engaging in public debate significantly advanced knowledge of syphilis. In doing so, this counters a historiographical trend that claims that French physician Philippe Ricord (1800-1889) was the first to distinguish syphilis from gonorrhoea in the nineteenth century. It uses historical evidence to show that the nature of syphilis was debated throughout the preceding centuries and that this distinction was clearly established in 1793 by Scottish surgeon, Benjamin Bell (1749-1806). This thesis uses the epistemic concepts devised by Ludwik Fleck in his Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact (1979 [1935]) to illustrate how enlightenment ways of thinking substantially contributed to the development of modern medicine. This thesis therefore invites a reconsideration of the era, not as a dark age, but as a rich period of scientific endeavour.

When the United States entered World War II, federal officials began planning a war on prostitution and decided to make New Orleans the poster city for reform. New Orleans held a reputation for being a destination for prostitution tin the U.S. A federally appointed group aptly named the Social Protection Division began a repression campaign in militarily dense areas throughout the United States. The goal was to protect soldiers by eliminating the threat from venereal disease carrying prostitutes. The Social Protection Division created a campaign with the New Orleans Health Department and the New Orleans Police Department to repression prostitution. Some in New Orleans, however, tried to undermine these efforts and continue the profitable tradition of prostitution. From 1942-1945, New Orleans became part of the internal war waged by the federal government against women deemed sexually dangerous to protect the patriotic male soldier being sent off to war.

The present thesis investigates the commercial sex hygiene films produced between the years 1914 and 1919 in the United States, during the last years of the Progressive Era. Rejected and prohibited as soon as five years after their apparition, the sex hygiene films’ position within the industry, as well as the cinematic techniques they incorporated, will be analysed through the concept of the Low Other. The first part of the thesis aims to delineate the used concepts, as well as integrate the sex hygiene film into a wider cultural, social, and political framework. The second part explores the films’ aesthetic construction, then focuses on a textual analysis of the narrative and non-narrative methods implied by three particular sex hygiene films. Finally, the thesis concludes that the films used a series of cinematic methods to create a Low Other on-screen, yet these very methods ultimately played a part within their suppression as a Low Other body of culture.